As of the third quarter of last year, the vacancy rate of office space in downtown Seoul was high at 12.9 percent. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A plan will be implemented to renovate empty offices or shops in downtown Seoul and supply them to single-person households, including car-free youth.
Announcing measures to supply housing in the metropolitan area Wednesday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport proposed a solution to renovate empty offices and shops into public rental spaces as a way to solve the vacancy problem in downtown Seoul and the housing problem among single Koreans at the same time.
As of the third quarter of last year, the vacancy rate of office space in downtown Seoul was high at 12.9 percent, and the vacancy rate of shopping malls is expected to continue to rise as online shopping becomes increasingly popular.
In response, the state-run Korea Land & Housing Corp. and the Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. have decided to buy well-located vacant offices and shops and supply them to 5,000 households as long-term public rentals by 2022.
As part of this initiative, the ministry will revise the “Special Act on Public Housing” to provide a legal basis for public housing operators to purchase offices and retail spaces, remodel them and supply them as rental housing.
In addition, the government plans to supply living social capital and amenities, including community facilities suitable for the resident class, including first-timers in society, along with local governments.
The government will also ease regulations on multi-family dwellings to promote a shared residential culture while utilizing empty houses.
Multi-family housing refers to a detached house where many people can live for a long time, and bathrooms can be set up for each room, but cooking facilities should be shared.
In addition, the ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Government will also push to develop a site for the relocation of factories in semi-industrial areas to supply housing.
D. M. Park (dmpark@koreabizwire.com)
