Written response from the National Assembly... “Excessive and unreasonable regulations related to redevelopment and reconstruction must be eased.”
“The premise of stabilizing the rental market is sufficient supply… protecting actual demand and long-term rentals.”
(Seoul, Sejong = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Ki-chang and Oh Jin-song = Hong Ji-seon, candidate for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, expressed his position on the 14th regarding the government's tax reform plan to increase the tax burden on owners of expensive homes and non-residential single homes, saying, "I agree with the direction of this real estate tax reform to form a housing market centered on actual residents and normalize the real estate tax system."
In a written response submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly on this day ahead of the confirmation hearing, Candidate Hong said, "The reform of the real estate tax system is an issue that will be reviewed in careful consideration of various aspects such as fair taxation, tax equity, and the impact on the housing market."
He also said, “Housing is a limited resource, so it needs to be supplied to actual users first,” and “As the current rental market structure is overly dependent on individuals who own multiple homes, I think we should continue to expand public rentals and support corporate rental projects to ensure housing stability for people who do not own homes.”
When asked whether easing regulations on redevelopment and reconstruction is necessary to expand housing supply in Seoul, Candidate Hong said, "To expand the supply of housing in the city, it is necessary to ease excessive or unreasonable regulations on reconstruction and redevelopment," and expressed the opinion, "There is a need to look at the impact of deregulation on the housing market and promote it so that expansion of supply and market stability can be harmonized."
He diagnosed that the reason for the increase in housing prices in Seoul and the metropolitan area is "this appears to be the result of a combination of a decrease in the number of occupancy due to the sluggish construction start that has continued since 2022, unusual economic growth and expansion of the asset market, and a concentration of demand in Seoul and the metropolitan area due to regional imbalance, leading to upward pressure."
As a way to reduce the time lag from the announcement of the government's supply plan to actual supply, "The key is thorough project management, such as shortening the construction start and permit period and prompt promotion of compensation," he said. "As a major amendment to the law to implement the shortest construction start model, the revision of the Special Act on Public Housing, which allows the announcement of a compensation plan when a district is designated before the completion of the basic survey, must be quickly promoted."
Regarding measures to stabilize the rental market, he said, "The most important prerequisite is sufficient housing supply," and added, "We will enhance the implementation of supply policies so that the effects of housing supply can be quickly visualized in the public and private sectors, while closely examining the housing market and people's housing patterns to see if there are any areas that need supplementation."
At the same time, regarding the purpose of housing ownership for those who own multiple homes, he said, "The impact on the housing market is different between stably renting a house for a long period of time and frequent trading for the purpose of short-term market profit, so it is necessary to take a separate policy approach," and announced that he will pursue policies to protect actual demand and long-term rental.
However, Candidate Hong responded to the point that the land transaction permit system, which is used to stabilize the housing market, may even discourage normal end-user transactions, saying, "I think there is a small possibility that it will reduce end-user transactions because it allows transactions by end-users through the actual residence obligation and blocks speculative demand such as gap investment (purchase of houses with leased housing)."
In addition, in relation to the point out that disputes between operators and residents are frequent in the process of converting public rental housing into sale, he said, "In order to minimize disputes between business operators and residents and maintain and secure the public rental housing inventory, it is necessary to expand the supply of pure public rental housing rather than supply of rental housing converted to sale."
Candidate Hong said, "If I take office, I will consider converting public rental housing planned for sale conversion into pure public rental housing, except in exceptional cases, such as when pre-subscription for public rental housing converted to sale has been completed or construction has already begun and changes to the plan cause delays in housing supply."
