People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Monday called for an easing of mortgage lending restrictions, arguing that the core of the housing problem is loans. "The reality is not that people cannot buy homes because there are none — it is that they want to buy but cannot get a loan," he said.

Writing on Facebook, Ahn said "Today, another grand real estate forum is being held under the prime minister's chairmanship. It will be a rerun of the same sadistic spectacle — pouring out new ways to torment homeowners and genuine buyers with taxes and regulations," he said.

He said the Lee Jae-myung administration had blocked home loans through heavy-handed regulation even for borrowers who could afford to repay principal and interest on schedule. "Homes can now only be bought by people sitting on cash, recipients of semiconductor performance bonuses, or employees of large conglomerates with access to nine-figure in-house loans," he said.

Ahn added that because the government and banks had cut off mortgage lending, a balloon effect had caused a surge in unsecured credit and overdraft borrowing. "Other loans at the five major banks in the first half alone reached more than 3.4 trillion won ($2.31 billion) — more than three times the target. Even President Lee's 2.9 billion won apartment could only secure 200 million won in mortgage financing, so he ended up putting up 1.77 billion won as collateral," he added.

He noted that KB had cut its mortgage lending limit in half and that Shinhan Bank had also reduced its unsecured loan ceiling, warning that "our people are now facing a loan moratorium. The gap between those who secured loans and those who could not will only widen," he said.

Ahn urged the government to ease its annual loan volume management targets this year. "Mortgage limits should be more than doubled, and loan-to-value ratios for genuine buyers must be raised significantly," he said. "Finance should follow demand — how long are we going to keep chanting about supply with no end in sight?"

He argued that even supplying 10 million apartments in Seoul would be meaningless without access to loans. "The most urgently needed real estate policy right now is: just give people loans," he said, adding that people should "keep in mind that access to credit is the most basic right for economic freedom and the pursuit of happiness."


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