Gyeonggi Province to Purchase Vacant Houses and Convert Them into Affordable Rental Housing

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province is purchasing vacant houses that have been neglected as eyesores in local communities and will refurbish them into rental housing cheaper than market rates or shared facilities that residents can utilize.

The province announced on the 30th that it will pursue the "Gyeonggi Province Vacant House Improvement Project" with this content and will implement a policy to improve vacant houses through ▲purchasing vacant houses ▲supporting demolition costs ▲supporting repairs and remodeling ▲installing safety fences.

The province plans to use 3 billion won from the Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Fund to purchase one vacant house each (plots) in the southern and northern regions of Gyeonggi Province and then directly utilize them as facilities for residents.

The plan is to serve as a catalyst for discovering Gyeonggi Province-style vacant house utilization models by supplying rental housing to low-income groups, young people, and newlywed couples, or by developing youth hub spaces and shared childcare facilities. To this end, the province plans to entrust the project to Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation through a proposal competition method from cities and counties in early next year.

Various subsidy support measures for owners have also been established. Demolition cost support is a project for demolishing vacant houses into vacant land or utilizing them as shared facilities. When demolishing a vacant house, a maximum of 10 million won will be provided, and when using for public purposes such as public parking lots, ecological gardens, and small parks after demolition, up to 20 million won will be provided. This plan aims to reduce the demolition cost burden for vacant house owners and encourage demolition.

Repair and remodeling support is a project that provides repair costs to vacant house owners. It aims to encourage owners to use abandoned vacant houses as new houses through repairs and remodeling. If the property is rented for five or more years after remodeling, up to 30 million won in support can be received.

Safety fence installation is a project that supports 6 million won for fence installation costs when demolition or repair of vacant houses is difficult, thereby closing off access to the vacant houses.

Support for demolition, repairs and remodeling, and fence installation will be shared 30:70 between the province and cities and counties in terms of budget. In 2021, a budget of approximately 1.3 billion won in total project costs will be allocated to six cities including Suwon, Yongin, Icheon, Anseong, Goyang, and Uijeongbu for pilot implementation. After 2021, the province plans to gradually expand by conducting a needs survey again.

Hong Ji-seon, Director of the Urban Housing Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We provided subsidies to cities and counties so they would improve vacant houses to overcome the contradictory situation where vacant houses increase due to population decline while housing prices rise," adding, "We hope that vacant houses, which detract from urban aesthetics and are used as crime sites, will be reborn from being a local nuisance into urban regeneration hub spaces."