[Anchor]
Even within the Democratic Party, lawmakers with constituencies in Seoul are concerned about this real estate tax reform. The tax bills for the new comprehensive real estate holding tax will be issued late next year, about four months before the next general election. Furthermore, Seoul is the region where the jeonse (lump-sum housing deposit) and wolse (monthly rent) shortages are most severe, leaving lawmakers unable to ignore voter sentiment. In response, the party held a seminar to seek countermeasures.
Reporter Park Jae-yeon has the story.
[Reporter]
Democratic Party lawmakers and city councilors representing Seoul constituencies held a closed-door meeting yesterday (August 6).
They reportedly examined how the real estate tax reform proposal announced on August 3 would impact public sentiment in Seoul and discussed various angles, including the "tax burden issue for non-resident single-home owners."
[Oh Gi-hyung / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "There seem to be opinions that we should approach aspects considered as actual residency (even if non-resident) with more flexibility..."]
A Seoul city councilor noted, "Everyone agreed on the need for sophisticated policies, as there are cases of non-residency due to various reasons other than work or education."
A Seoul constituency lawmaker also emphasized, "Preparations are necessary for the possibility that the increased tax burden could be passed on to tenants, as well as the shortage of jeonse and wolse homes."
Discussions on jeonse and wolse countermeasures were reportedly frequent, driven by concerns that reducing tax benefits for non-resident single-home owners and multi-home owners could shift the burden onto tenants.
Measures to expand housing supply also drew attention.
[Kim Nam-guk / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "There is a consensus that we must focus on solving the supply cliff problem..."]
The Democratic Party is reviewing ways to increase the supply of not just apartments, but also non-apartments like villas and officetels, which take relatively less time to actually supply.
A key lawmaker within the Democratic Party leadership stated, "We are also reviewing the inclusion of budgets related to modular housing, which is the fastest to build despite high construction costs, in next year's budget bill."
In response to the government's tax reform, the People Power Party continued its criticism, warning that "policies that refuse to listen to the other side will face consequences."
[Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party Lawmaker (at a debate evaluating the tax reform proposal): "They are dropping a tax bomb even on single-home owners, and dropping another bomb on ordinary citizens and young people struggling with jeonse and wolse hardships..."]
Meanwhile, the Blue House will hold the "2nd Real Estate Policy Inspection Meeting" chaired by President Lee Jae-myung this afternoon to discuss measures for expanding housing supply.
(Camera reporting: Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video editing: Won Hyung-hee | Design: Jang Sung-beom)
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