Gwacheon City Proposes Early Conversion of Public Rental Housing to Sales

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Yu Je-sung] On the 25th, Gwacheon City officially proposed amendments to the 'Public Housing Special Act' and its enforcement ordinance at the '10th Gyeonggi Mayors and Governors Council' held at the Gimpo Media Art Center, which would shorten the time point at which early conversion to sales is possible for 10-year public rental housing with conversion to sales.

The 10-year conversion-to-sales public rental housing is a system that provides leasing for 10 years during the mandatory rental period and then grants tenants priority conversion-to-sales opportunities. Under current laws and regulations, early conversion to sales is only possible after 5 years, which is one-half of the mandatory rental period.

The conversion-to-sales price is determined by the arithmetic average of amounts calculated by two appraisal firms based on the conversion time point. If housing prices rise, the sales prices can also increase accordingly. When converting early or before expiration under current laws and regulations, tenants' burden can increase significantly. Consequently, there are concerns that some tenants may face practical difficulties in utilizing the priority conversion-to-sales opportunity.

Accordingly, Gwacheon City proposed amendments to Article 50-2 of the 'Public Housing Special Act' and Article 54 of the same enforcement ordinance to allow early conversion to sales if the public housing project operator and tenants agree when one-third of the rental obligation period (approximately 3 years 4 months) has passed for 10-year public rental housing.

The Gwacheon Knowledge Information Town Public Housing District is planned to have 52 units of 10-year conversion-to-sales public rental housing with a dedicated floor area of 60~85㎡. If institutional improvements are made, citizens are expected to receive substantial benefits.

Gwacheon Mayor Shin Gye-yong stated, "The public rental housing system needs to be operated in line with the purpose of housing stability," and "I hope that institutional improvements will be made to substantially guarantee tenants' opportunity to own their own homes."

He added, "Going forward, I will continue to make efforts together with basic local governments in Gyeonggi Province and cooperate with the central government to bring about amendments to related laws and regulations."