Seoul Metropolitan Government is to supply some 5,000 public rental housing -- almost double the amount of the current 2,500 -- annually, in its effort to tackle the ongoing housing crisis in the South Korean capital.

The public rental housing refer to small-size studios and houses that have been purchased by the city government to be rented out to the general public at lower-than market rates.

Earlier this month, the central government also said it would supply 300,000 public homes starting 2021 in its effort to stabilize the overheated real estate market. 

Apartment prices in Seoul have shot up in recent months after Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced a redevelopment plan for two districts in Seoul -- Yeouido and Yongsan -- in July. The mayor eventually indefinitely postponed the plan, saying it won’t be materialized until the real estate market stabilizes.

Under the latest housing supply scheme, the central government plans to build four to five new, small-size residential towns in Seoul and nearby cities in Gyeonggi Province. Housing in these towns will be first given to low-income households, the government said.

Some 10,000 homes in a total of 11 districts in Seoul, including an old residential area in Gaepo, and a former prison site in Songpa, will be redeveloped into newly-introduced residential towns, they added.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been asking the Seoul Metropolitan Government to lift a development ban on the city’s so-called greenbelt areas -- legally protected areas of greenspace and forests -- to build more housing units.

Park has rejected the request, saying the areas need to be preserved for environmental reasons.

The newly introduced measures -- to supply 5,000 public homes annually -- is offered as an alternative to utilizing the greenbelt areas.

The Seoul Metropolitan Governmet aims to offer a total of 62,000 public housing units by the year 2022.
(dyc@heraldcorp.com)