'Where is the land in Seoul?' Oh Se-hoon says 310,000 housing starts would add net 87,000 units

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Tuesday called urban redevelopment and reconstruction projects "in effect the only large-scale housing supply solution" for a city with little available land, and again urged the central government to ease regulations on such projects. The Seoul Metropolitan Government rebuffed claims that redevelopment would worsen the jeonse and monthly rent shortage by accelerating housing demolitions, saying that if ground is broken on 310,000 units across 253 project sites by 2031, the city would still see a net gain of roughly 87,000 households even after accounting for demolished units.

Oh visited redevelopment and reconstruction sites in the Seogye and Cheongpa-dong areas of Yongsan-gu on Tuesday morning and said the city would "follow through to the end so that the planned ground-breakings and move-ins translate into real, felt changes in people's living conditions."

Seogye and Cheongpa-dong are low-rise residential neighborhoods that took shape near Seoul Station as workers migrated to Seoul during the industrialization and urbanization of the 1960s. Despite their proximity to Seoul Station, redevelopment plans collapsed after the city's 2012 New Town exit strategy, and the areas were converted to urban regeneration projects instead — leaving residents with steep hillside terrain, narrow alleyways and aging housing stock for years.

Seven private redevelopment projects are now under way in the Seogye and Cheongpa-dong area, including fast-track integrated planning redevelopment and Moa Town schemes. The six sites whose unit counts have been finalized — excluding Cheongpa Zone 3, where figures are not yet set — plan a combined 8,088 units. Compared with the 6,393 existing homes before the projects, that represents a net increase of 1,695 units, or 26.5%, even after demolitions are factored in. The total supply figure will rise further once Cheongpa Zone 3 is finalized.

The Moa Town project at 116 Seogye-dong is pursuing a zoning upgrade from third-class general residential to semi-residential, which would increase the unit count from 172 to 499 — a gain of 327 units. The plan is subject to further review before final approval.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to redevelop the area into a flagship residential district for the western side of Seoul Station, using fast-track integrated planning and Moa Town tools. For the Seogye integrated zone, the city will apply the current floor-area ratio to secure about 50 additional units beyond the original plan. For Cheongpa Zone 2, it is shortening the project timeline by supporting the direct formation of a reconstruction association, bypassing the preparatory committee stage.

With Seoul apartment prices surging and the jeonse and monthly rent shortage deepening, the city views redevelopment and reconstruction as the sole "master key" for housing supply. City analysis shows that 59 redevelopment and reconstruction projects completed over the past three years produced about 20,000 more units than existed before — a 36.4% increase. Redevelopment projects added roughly 7,000 units for a net gain rate of 27.4%, while reconstruction projects added about 13,000 units, posting a net gain rate of 44.2%.

The city plans to break ground on a total of 310,000 units across 253 project sites by 2031. Even after accounting for all demolished housing, it estimates a net increase of roughly 87,000 households, or 39.2%. Of those, 48,000 units are earmarked as rental housing.

To accelerate the projects, the city said it would expand the use of standard processing deadlines, integrated review procedures and parallel processing by phase, while strengthening progress management for individual projects. It will also monitor the relocation schedules of each site and the surrounding jeonse and monthly rent market to prevent relocations from clustering in any single period.

The city also said the government's financial and housing supply measures should include institutional reforms to normalize redevelopment and reconstruction projects. Seoul called for: adjustments to the mandatory rental housing ratio in redevelopment projects; expansion of the legal floor-area ratio ceiling for private projects to 1.2 times the current limit; a three-year temporary suspension of restrictions on transferring association member status; normalization of the loan-to-value ratio for relocation loans at 70%; and a reduction of the consent rate required to form a redevelopment association from 75 to 70 percent.