Transition committee considers reversing Moon’s housing policy

Mar 29, 2022, 09:25 am

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Ahn Cheol-soo, chief of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidential transition committee, presides over a plenary session of the committee at its office in Seoul on March 28, 2022./ Source: Pool photo

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidential transition committee is considering revising or even abolishing key housing rules on tenants’ rights that the current Moon Jae-in administration introduced two years ago.

The transition team hinted at reversing the so-called Housing Lease Protection Act, which has been pointed out as the main reason behind housing hike, saying that it was “bringing volatility to the market.”

“During a briefing by the Land Ministry, various aspects of the tenants protection law have been reviewed,” said Won Il-hee, chief deputy spokesman of the transition team. “We were briefed that a revision will be made and that changes will be made gradually depending on the market situation and legislative conditions.”

“We are clearly aware that the law is causing confusion in the market and are determined to improve the system,” he said.

In 2020, certain laws on housing lease agreements were revised to improve the rights of tenants. That included giving tenants the right to extend the two-year-term deposit contracts by up to two more years, and limiting rent increases to a maximum of 5 percent. Rent contractors were also required by law to report to local governments within 30 days of contract.

The laws were aimed at protecting tenants in the rental market. However, the cap in rent increase limited the supply into the market as people were discouraged from buying to rent, eventually leading to rent increase.

On the laws, Yoon Suk-yeol previously had said the housing rules should be completely reviewed during his presidential campaign. Recently, he visited the transition team, and said, “The housing policy was revised 28 times, eventually fueling hike in house prices. This was because policies ignored the market economy.”

The transition team has not officially announced it would abolish or revise the laws, the related bills are expected to be revised.

However, it is expected to revise several ways for the rest of the time since a dramatic shift in housing policy may cause more confusion in the market.

Besides, the rule change seems not easy as Moon’s ruling Democratic Party, which holds majority control of the National Assembly, is expected to vote down Yoon’s proposal. For this reason, some believe the transition team may propose a supplementary plan, such as giving incentives to landlords who agree on long-term contracts.

#Yoon Suk-yeol #transition team #Moon Jae-in #housing policy #tenant