A set of housing supply bills, including a revision to the Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments, the Yongsan Park Special Act and the Act on Special Measures for Urban Regeneration, again failed to reach a plenary vote in the National Assembly on the 3rd, as the rival parties remained divided over how far to ease floor area ratios for privately led redevelopment and rebuilding projects.
The parties continued negotiating the details of the housing supply legislation ahead of the plenary session but did not reach an agreement.
The central point of contention is how far floor area ratios should be eased for privately led redevelopment projects. The pending revision would allow public redevelopment projects to build up to 1.3 times the legal ceiling on floor area ratio, and the parties are at odds over whether to extend the same treatment to private projects. Rep. Bok Ki-wang of the Democratic Party proposed easing the floor area ratio for private projects to 1.2 times across Seoul, excluding the three Gangnam districts and Yongsan District, while the People Power Party argues the ceiling should be raised to 1.3 times, the same level applied to public projects.
"Public redevelopment projects are allowed up to 1.3 times, so why only 1.2 times for private ones," said Lim Yi-ja, chair of the People Power Party's policy committee. "The biggest reason redevelopment and rebuilding projects are not moving faster is weak profitability." She added that the aim is "to raise profitability by easing floor area ratios boldly."
The Democratic Party, for its part, says it intends to pass the bills at the next plenary session, scheduled for the 17th. "We have taken a forward-leaning position, including accepting the People Power Party's proposal to ease the floor area ratio for private redevelopment projects to 120%, so we expect an agreement is possible," a senior Democratic Party official said.
The Assembly did pass 17 non-contentious bills at the session, including legislation extending the term of the special investigation committee on the Itaewon disaster by one year. The revision gives the committee a total term of two years and three months, running through Sept. 16 next year. Lawmakers also approved a motion to contribute 3% of their September allowances to help fund recovery from flood damage in Nepal.
