[Provided by Korea Land and Housing Corporation]
[Provided by Korea Land and Housing Corporation]

The Korea Land and Housing Corporation announced Tuesday it has introduced a simplified application and preliminary site review program to accelerate the acquisition of new-build purchase units in the Greater Seoul area using privately held land. The initiative is designed to significantly streamline the new-build purchase process and boost the housing supply rate.

The corporation developed the simplified program to reduce the time and administrative burden on individual and corporate developers who want to participate in the new-build purchase agreement project but lack prior experience, making it easier for them to join.

Key changes under the program include allowing applications to be submitted with an abbreviated project plan instead of full design drawings, enabling online batch applications through the corporation's website for sites in multiple regions, and — for applicants that pass the preliminary review — exempting them from the document screening stage and awarding full marks on location-related criteria in the purchase review.

Eligible applicants are individuals or corporations proposing sites in the Greater Seoul area capable of accommodating 500 or more units — or 200 or more in regulated zones, with individual buildings counted cumulatively. Eligible land includes idle sites arising from corporate office consolidations, supermarket or factory relocations or closures, financially managed project sites held through trusts, real estate investment trusts or funds, and idle urban land owned by individuals or clan associations.

However, properties already submitted within the past three years are excluded. The corporation also added requirements for land ownership or an appraisal consent form as conditions for new-build purchase eligibility, strengthening the program's effectiveness.

Through this program, the corporation has sharply reduced the procedural steps required, allowing applications to proceed with only an abbreviated project plan — without design drawings — and using that plan to determine whether a site is suitable.

Individuals and corporations with limited experience in new-build purchases have long found it difficult to assess whether their land qualifies for the program, and the cost of commissioning design drawings before any purchase commitment was made had been cited as a barrier to entry. Companies requiring board approval before selling land had also called for preliminary information on purchase feasibility before proceeding.

In response, the corporation now allows project applications to be filed using only an abbreviated project plan rather than full design drawings. The plan is to be prepared around location criteria such as public transit accessibility, educational conditions, access to everyday amenities and the residential environment.

The corporation has also established a new preliminary site review committee, which will assess whether a proposed location is suitable for new-build purchase based on the submitted project plan. Sites that pass the committee's review will be deemed to have cleared the existing document screening stage and will receive full marks on location-related criteria in any subsequent purchase review.

The corporation will also apply a fast-track strategy to ensure that units accepted under the program reach agreement within the year, in order to secure supply quickly. Sites that pass the preliminary site review must supplement their design drawings within one month to maintain the validity of that approval.

To promote the program and encourage applications, the corporation plans to hold information sessions alongside a one-on-one consultation service.

"We have significantly lowered the barriers to participation that existed before, so that high-quality rental housing can be supplied more quickly at prime urban locations," said Jo Gyeong-suk, head of the corporation's residential welfare division. "We will actively make use of excellent privately held land to ease the burden on developers and deliver housing for the residential stability of the public at a faster pace."


hss@heraldcorp.com