The government will lift restrictions on greenbelt or development-restricted zones in Seoul and surrounding areas in order to identify potential sites for 80,000 new homes.
This will be the first time since 2012 that regulations on greenbelts in the nation’s capital are lifted.
The government will also streamline the lengthy processes involved in reconstructing old apartment complexes and redeveloping aging neighborhoods, aiming to supply an estimated 370,000 homes in Seoul alone.
Regarding the first generation of Korea’s planned cities from the 1990s, the government will identify by November areas in Gyeonggi Province that urgently need redevelopment, with the goal of constructing over 26,000 new homes.
Additionally, the government will increase the acquisition tax exemption for first-time home buyers from 2 million won ($1,400) to 3 million won 한국을 ($2,100). This exemption will apply to smaller homes, including less popular housing types such as “villas” or small residential buildings, and single or multiplex houses.
These measures were announced during a meeting of real estate related ministers, Thursday, as the government is grappling with exacerbating housing shortages in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
This shortage is due to more Koreans choosing to live in the densely populated capital and the greater Seoul area, despite an overall decline in the nation’s population.
The shortage is exacerbated by a strong preference among Koreans for apartments, leading to apartment prices rising at a much faster rate than those of other types of homes.
“In that regard, the government wants to expand housing supply in a dramatic fashion while coping with housing demand in a preemptive manner,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok said as he presided over the minsters’ meeting at the Government Complex Seoul.
He noted that, although the government came up with a package of housing supply measures in September 2023, home prices have been rising steeply in recent months.