Gyeonggi Province: 'Townhouse' Investment Boom Should Fall Under Housing Law, Not Building Law

[Suwon Ilbo = Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province has proposed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport amendments to the Housing Law enforcement ordinance to prevent 'permit splitting' by consolidating identical business entities.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 16th, 'townhouses,' which have recently attracted investment demand, are characterized by forming residential communities on a smaller scale unlike general apartment complexes. When the number of units is under 50 households (30 for single-family homes), they fall under the Building Law rather than the Housing Law.

The problem is that some townhouse developers recruit residents by marketing adjacent townhouses together as large-scale complexes like apartment buildings. However, because they receive 'permit splitting,' they are not managed under the Housing Law, resulting in ▲poor living environments due to inadequate ancillary and welfare facilities such as community centers required by residents ▲omission of safety equipment such as fire hydrants and sprinklers ▲failure to comply with mandatory inspections including quality verification and pre-occupancy inspections by residents ▲administrative limitations in resolving collective complaints from poor construction quality in the future when mandatory inspections are not conducted.

To address this, the Province proposed that when an identical business entity receives building permits on multiple 'adjacent' sites for small-scale residential communities such as multi-unit row houses and constructs and supplies housing, the combined number of units across each planned site exceeding a certain scale (50 or more units for complex types) should require project plan approval under the Housing Law, including ancillary and welfare facilities.

In preparation for the time required for amendments to the Housing Law enforcement ordinance, the Province also proposed that cases where housing is constructed and supplied as one complex on multiple 'adjacent' sites above a certain number of units be included in the scope of application of the 'Rules on Housing Supply,' and that verification procedures through mayors and county governors be applied to verify application materials such as resident recruitment details.

Go Yong-soo, director of the Architectural Design Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated: "With this proposal as an opportunity, we expect to prevent illegal practices in small-scale residential development and protect home buyers from false and exaggerated advertising." He added: "We plan to continue cooperating with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to ensure that the law is amended as soon as possible."