Reconstruction of Dilapidated Housing Made Easier

Apartment buildings with less than 50 apartments will be exempt from restitution of reconstruction development gains so they do not have to build rental apartments.

An inspection team for reconstruction will also be permanently established, and will randomly run a self-initiated investigation of the accuracy of safety checks and monitor the procedural legality of the reconstruction projects.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation will confirm the “Amendment for City and Residential Area Environment Improvement” plan, and will implement it starting May 19 after a National Assembly vote.

According to the amendment, buildings with more than 50 apartments will be subject to a charge for the repayment of reconstruction gains if its floor area ratio (FAR) increases after reconstruction. This means those buildings must construct additional rental apartments with part of their increased portion of FAR.

The existing policy applied a charge for repayment of reconstruction gains only to apartment buildings whose FAR increased by more than 30 percent, even in cases of apartment buildings with more than 50 apartments that underwent reconstruction.

The number of apartment complexes with less than 50 apartments account for 83,000 apartments in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, which makes up approximately eight percent of the total number of apartment buildings.

In addition, if more than 30 percent of a complex’s housing was built over 15 years ago, and if dilapidated houses make up more than 50 percent of the total, reconstruction is authorized.

Also, in order to make the reconstruction industry more transparent, an inspection team will be permanently established.

The team will autonomously perform the investigation of accuracy of safety checks, which are a criteria for reconstruction, prohibit people from encouraging reconstruction where it is impossible, and investigate the selection procedure of construction contractors and wreckers.

Jae-Seong Hwang jsonhng@donga.com