The ruling Democratic Party has proposed that the government extend through next year a waiver of the owner-occupancy requirement that applies when buying a home in land transaction permit zones, and also allow lease renewals to qualify for the waiver. The party argues that if the current application deadline of the end of December expires, both landlords planning to sell a home next year and their tenants could be disadvantaged.
Kwon Chil-seung, chairman of the Democratic Party's policy committee, said at a party floor leadership meeting at the National Assembly on the 15th that applications for the expanded waiver of the owner-occupancy requirement in land transaction permit zones can be filed only until the end of this year, meaning those who want to sell a home next year under the tax code revision cannot apply. He proposed that the government extend the waiver through next year.
Under current rules, buyers of a home in a land transaction permit zone must move in within four months of approval and live there for two years. But after the government designated all of Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province as land transaction permit zones in October last year, transactions of homes with tenants froze, and in May the government introduced a supplementary measure. It allows non-homeowners who buy a home that was being leased as of May 12 to defer the owner-occupancy requirement until the existing lease ends.
The waiver, however, recognizes only the remaining lease term and excludes lease renewals. "Because only the remaining lease term is recognized and renewal contracts are not, there is an aspect that affects tenants' housing stability," Kwon said. "To ease tenants' housing insecurity and stabilize the jeonse and monthly rent market, there is a need to consider extending the current owner-occupancy waiver through next year and allowing lease renewals as well."
At the same meeting, Kwon described an earlier joint policy conference between the ruling and opposition parties on livelihood issues as "a valuable occasion for dialogue and compromise, held amid a tight political calendar of parliamentary questioning and confirmation hearings." He said the two sides agreed to speed up legislation starting with bills that can be handled without disagreement among those proposed by both parties, and to narrow differences through joint policy committee debates where views diverge.
"I hope that, starting with today's joint conference, good examples of narrowing the gap between the ruling and opposition parties and continuing cooperative governance will spread," he added. "We will place people's livelihoods as the top priority and continue to consult with the opposition party."
