Including Mokdong and Yeouido complexes
Mayor Oh, the possibility of lifting the designation
Confirmation of the plan to abolish the 35th floor rule
While the government has lifted all regulated areas except for the 3rd district of Gangnam and Yongsan-gu, attention is focusing on whether land transaction permits for major reconstruction complexes such as Mok-dong and Yeouido will also be lifted.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 5th, from 0:00 on the same day, the designation of regulated areas such as overheated speculation districts and areas subject to adjustment was lifted in all areas of the country except for the four autonomous districts of Seoul, including Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa, and Yongsan-gu.
Although it has been lifted from the regulated area, in the case of Seoul, the 55.99㎢ area, which accounts for 9.2% of the total area (as of August 30, 2022), is tied to the ‘Land Transaction Permission Zone’. Once a land transaction permit zone is established, permission from the head of the relevant local government must be obtained when trading land or housing that exceeds a certain area within the zone (in the case of residential areas, the area exceeds 6㎡). The authority to designate the land transaction permit zone in Seoul is Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
As the government drastically lifts the regulated areas, there is a possibility that Mayor Oh will start to lift the designation of the land transaction permit zone. Samsung/Cheongdam/Daechi-dong in Gangnam-gu, Jamsil-dong in Songpa-gu, and Greenbelt in Seocho-gu, which are ‘international exchange complexes and neighboring areas’, belong to the 3 districts of Gangnam that the government has left as regulated areas, so it is unlikely to be lifted. Areas tied together with the government’s public redevelopment or Mayor Oh’s ‘Shintong Planning’ are not likely to be lifted due to speculation prevention measures aimed at specific projects.
However, the possibility of lifting is discussed in Yangcheon, Yeongdeungpo, and Seongdong, where major reconstruction complexes are located, except for Gangnam District 3. In Yeongdeungpo-gu, 610,000 square meters of the Yeouido apartment district, in Yangcheon-gu, 2.28 million square meters in the Mok-dong reconstruction complex, and in Seongdong-gu, 530,000 square meters, including Seongsu-dong 1 and 2-ga, are designated as land transaction permission zones.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government finalized and announced the ‘2040 Seoul Urban Basic Plan’, which included the abolition of the ’35th floor height limit’ applied to apartments in Seoul after 9 years. Starting with Mido Apartment in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, it is expected that high-rise apartments with 50 floors or more will be built one after another in Seoul. The height regulation on the 35th floor was introduced in accordance with the 2030 Seoul Urban Basic Plan in 2014, when Park Won-soon was the former mayor, to prevent protruding landscapes. Mayor Oh has announced plans to abolish the regulation since March of last year. In this year’s New Year’s address, he said, “Not only have we been able to secure diverse skylines and competitive urban landscapes, but we also expect to be able to respond to the rapidly changing future city environment.”
There is also criticism of “supporting house prices” for the government’s release of regulatory areas. The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice issued a statement and demanded that “the government must stop indiscriminate deregulation.” “According to KB Housing Price Trends, the average sale price of apartments in Seoul is still more than twice as expensive, from 600 million won in May 2017 to 1.27 billion won in December last year,” said the Korea Economic Daily. Nevertheless, deregulation is intended to support the house price bubble,” he said.