"They betrayed us — I voted for them because they said they wouldn't raise property taxes. I'm the fool for getting duped in my late 40s."
That was posted alongside a "proof of departure" photo from the Democratic Party on a real estate information-sharing community. On the site, posts certifying party departures are piling up along with complaints about the government's real estate policy, such as "I own one home, but when I tried to move into my own house I couldn't get an eviction loan" and "Are non-residence and the jeonse system evil?"
Following the government's tax reform announcement, "real estate sentiment" in the Seoul metropolitan area is boiling over, and the government and ruling party are agonizing over supplementary measures. To quell the discontent of non-resident single-home owners whose tax benefits were sharply cut, the mood is to expand exceptional cases recognized as actual residence, and even to review revitalizing redevelopment and reconstruction projects that had been ruled out. But with the sales and jeonse/monthly-rent markets already showing signs of turbulence and many hurdles to clear before expanding supply, calming the angry public is expected to be no easy task.
President Lee Jae-myung held a second review meeting on the 7th ahead of announcing real estate supply measures. It was a follow-up to the first meeting on the 3rd, where he instructed officials to "secure as much available housing supply as possible." At the meeting, which lasted six hours, President Lee received reports from ministers of relevant agencies on financial support to promote housing supply and measures to induce early real estate supply.
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential spokesperson, explained via a written briefing that "sweeping supply expansion and rapid implementation measures were extensively discussed and closely reviewed." President Lee also urged Prime Minister Han Sung-sook and ministers of relevant agencies to "not cling to existing ways of thinking, but judge transformationally, think boldly, and act."
Specifically, he is believed to have reviewed the progress of sites included in the Jan. 29 metropolitan housing supply measures — such as Seoul's Yongsan Camp Kim site, Taereung CC, the Defense Counterintelligence Command, and the Gwacheon Racecourse site — and urged speedy execution. He is also known to have put new housing-site candidates on the table one by one and exchanged various ideas on possible groundbreaking timing and volumes. In this process, President Lee reportedly expressed regret over Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's opposition to designating the Yongsan Park site as a candidate for real estate supply, while emphasizing dialogue and persuasion, saying, "We must first consult with the Seoul city government."
The government also decided to recognize Jan. 29 supply-measure sites such as Taereung CC and the Gwacheon Racecourse as exceptions to the total-cap regulation on lifting greenbelt (development-restricted zone) designations. The intent is not to use up local governments' greenbelt-lifting quotas in order to speed up housing supply. However, with local governments such as the Seoul and Gwacheon city governments at odds with the central government over development, it remains unclear whether the "supply-at-all-costs" speed drive the government wants will be possible.
There are also signs the government may reconsider revitalizing redevelopment and reconstruction and other maintenance projects, which President Lee had spoken of negatively. A government official said, "We're in a situation where we have to lay out all the cards and consider them," while adding, "there are also differing views on the effects of redevelopment and reconstruction." The government is also reportedly considering maintaining household loan regulations while easing loan rules for young people and those without homes in connection with housing supply.
The government and ruling party also signaled a willingness to make supplements for non-resident single-home owners, among whom discontent is growing in the metropolitan middle class. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol said on MBC Radio that day, "If we judge there are unavoidable reasons, we will view it as much as possible from the citizens' standpoint," pledging to minimize sanctions on non-resident single-home owners.
The reform plan allows non-resident single-home owners who move to another city or county for unavoidable reasons to have up to three years recognized as a residence period, and the government's position is that it may consider further expanding the scope and duration of exceptions.
Rep. Kim Nam-geun of the Democratic Party, conveying the views of the party's Seoul-area lawmakers, said, "The idea is to discuss recognizing temporary non-residence as broadly as possible." He added, "We decided to reflect about half of the construction period as a residence period not only for those who move for care or employment but also for those relocated due to reconstruction, and there were opinions to discuss this further."
Within the Democratic Party, there are also voices calling for a review of the government's real estate policy direction out of concern over the defection of the support base. Rep. Lee Eon-ju of the Democratic Party argued on Facebook, "We must not overlook the 'two sides of the coin' — that multiple-home owners and non-resident single-home owners, treated as uniform targets of regulation, in reality account for a considerable portion of the private jeonse/monthly-rent supply," and, "a more refined review is needed."
In particular, as regulations on non-resident homeowners are strengthened, concerns are growing that the "contract renewal request right," which has served as a prop for the existing rental market, could become a dead letter. A two-term Democratic Party lawmaker on the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee pointed out, "If a landlord who bought a house in Seoul for investment purposes and lived in Gyeonggi Province moves into the Seoul home, it could affect Seoul's jeonse/monthly-rent prices," adding, "discussion on improving the system is needed."
Some metropolitan-area lawmakers are independently reviewing supplementary measures for the tax reform plan while gauging local sentiment. At the party level, however, the mood is cautious about concrete institutional improvements, wary of appearing to clash head-on with the government's reform plan.
