The government took out a 'medium-large residential officetel' card in order to secure as much as possible rent-for-rent houses preferred by young people in the city center.
In a situation where there are only villas with a low preference for a house that can be obtained in the city center other than an apartment right now, it is an attempt to increase the housing supply by increasing the number of residential officetels.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced today (15th), 'Measures to expand the supply of urban housing and increase the supply speed of apartments', which includes expanding the upper limit of the exclusive area that allows floor heating in officetels from 85 m2 to 120 m2.
Allowing the officetel to have underfloor heating means allowing the officetel to be used as a home, that is, for residential purposes.
Although an officetel is not a house, it can be used as a house, so it is classified as a 'quasi-housing'.
After the supply, if residents report moving in and live, it will be used for residence, and if it is used as an office, it will be used for business.
But the key is underfloor heating.
This is because the floor needs warmth in order for people to live.
Currently, floor heating of officetels is allowed only up to an exclusive area of 85㎡ or less.
In this way, a mid-to-large residential officetel of 30 pyeong can come out.
Officetels do not have balconies, so they are narrower than general apartments even with the same floor space.
Expanding the supply of residential officetels is an easily accessible means for governments that need to rapidly increase the supply of housing in the city center.
In order to supply apartments, urban public housing complex projects or redevelopment and reconstruction are required, but there are limits no matter how fast the project is increased.
Since there is not much demand for villas and townhouses, the effect of expanding housing supply is limited.
However, officetels are semi-housing preferred by young people.
By changing the use of an existing vacant officetel for business use, it can be quickly converted to residential use.
Officetels are subject to the Building Sales Act when they are supplied, so there is no need for a subscription account at the time of sale.
Of course, there is no price regulation and there is no regulation related to the subscription applied to houses.
The government has repeatedly loosened and tightened the regulations on officetels as needed from the past.
Underfloor heating was allowed in officetels until the early 2000s, but floor heating was completely banned in June 2004.
Then, as the jeonse crisis aggravated, floor heating was allowed in small officetels with an exclusive area of less than 50m2 at the end of 2006 and less than 60m2 from January 2009.
However, the reason the government has delayed the expansion of residential officetels so far is because there are many controversies related to officetels.
Officetels are not subject to price regulation, which may cause controversy over high sale prices in popular areas.
In addition, since officetels for business use are not houses, they are not subject to the general real estate tax and transfer income tax for multi-residential owners, and the case of tax evasion by reporting to the authorities for business use while actually using it for residential purposes has been pointed out as a chronic problem.
Even now, there are many cases in which officetel owners rent with the condition that they do not report moving in to the tenant.
This is because if you have moved in, you can be caught on the radar of the tax authorities.
It is true that it is difficult to expect help from the Lease Protection Act in a situation where the tenant has not even reported moving in.
Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "Now that the monthly rent declaration system has been introduced, it is mandatory to report, and it is easier to check rental-related data such as payment of various utility bills, so there are more means to catch tax evasion."
However, permitting residential officetels virtually entirely can create problems in terms of urban planning as well.
Dividing the city into residential, commercial, and industrial areas, and dividing work and home sites, has been an old choice for creating a good residential environment.
It is difficult to say that a place where work space and home are mixed up is a good residential environment.
At the same time, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to ease the construction standards for one-room types among urban living houses.
Urban living housing is classified as an apartment building with an exclusive area of 85 m2 and less than 300 households, but like officetels, you can receive pre-sale without a subscription account.
However, it has been pointed out that building standards such as building spacing and parking lot installation regulations are loose compared to apartments, which impairs the surrounding residential environment.
As with officetels, there are no pre-sale price restrictions, which can cause controversy over high pre-sale prices in high-end residential areas, and there are no subscription-related regulations.
In fact, recently, there have been a number of cases where builders are selling expensive urban living houses to target a niche market in the Gangnam area.
Questions are also raised about the effectiveness of the government's policies.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport increased the area of a one-room urban living house to a maximum of 60 m2 and made it possible to create up to three bedrooms.
Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "If you make several small rooms on an exclusive 60㎡, it can be used as a shared house that can be used by young people together."
As for urban housing, the previous government loosened the regulations as part of the monthly rent measures.
In 2009, the government introduced urban living housing to relieve the anxiety of renting for one or two person households, but the following year, the standard for the number of households was increased from less than 150 to less than 300, and the regulations were relaxed.