Finance ministry unveils plan for 230,000-plus capital-region homes

The finance ministry said Thursday it will pursue 230,000-plus additional homes in the capital region to counter a prolonged decline in housing construction starts and ease pressure in the housing market.

The package combines accelerated construction with financing support for young people and other home seekers, while retaining the demand-management stance adopted after the June 27 measures.

The ministry cited a slowdown in construction starts since 2022 that has left fewer homes available for occupancy as demand rose with higher nominal growth, widening price increases for apartment and general-home sales, jeonse and monthly rentals. "Nothing is more important than building a solid supply base for stable housing for the public," Land Minister Kim Yoon-duk said.

The plan includes 100,000 homes on new housing sites and aims to reduce the interval between announcing candidate public sites and construction starts to 37 months from 68 months. It would bring forward starts for 89,000 homes in existing housing districts, including third-generation new towns, by one to two years or more.

More than 80 percent of capital-region housing supply comes from the private sector. In Seoul and Gyeonggi, developments starting by 2027 would receive a 1-percentage-point subsidy on project-financing loan interest, while those starting in 2028 would get a 0.5-percentage-point subsidy.

The government also plans to support relocation loans and lower the consent threshold for forming redevelopment associations to 70 percent from 75 percent. It would ease building rules for multihousehold and multifamily homes and extend tax measures excluding small newly built general homes from house-count calculations through 2028.

Roughly 15 percent of public-sale homes will be offered under affordable equity-accumulation and profit-sharing models. The package also adds a youth universal jeonse-rental program, a standard public rental-housing category and a public-supported private-rental model with operating periods of 20 years or more.