Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has officially submitted a written proposal to the government regarding real estate policy, calling for the maintenance of special deductions for long-term ownership and the expansion of relocation loans for reconstruction and redevelopment projects.

Mayor Oh announced today (July 14) at a briefing room in Seoul City Hall that he had proposed 8 policy tasks across 3 major areas to the government during a briefing on his proposals to the cabinet regarding real estate policy.

Earlier this morning, Mayor Oh attended the cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Jae-myung at the Blue House as an attendee.

Mayor Oh intended to express his opinions on the government's real estate policy during the meeting, but he was not granted the floor and instead submitted a report he had prepared in advance.

Following the meeting, Mayor Oh publicly disclosed the details of the Proposal to the Government for Normalizing the Seoul Real Estate Market, which he had submitted to the cabinet, at the Seoul City Hall briefing room.

The proposal includes institutional improvement tasks in three areas: private maintenance projects, private rental housing, and taxation.

In the area of private maintenance projects, he proposed raising the Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio for relocation loans to 70%, easing restrictions on the transfer of union member status, and increasing the legal maximum floor area ratio for private maintenance projects by 1.2 times.

Regarding private rental housing, he suggested easing LTV regulations for purchase-type rental business operators, excluding them from comprehensive real estate tax calculations, and introducing a corporate-type private rental business system.

In the taxation sector, where the government is currently discussing reform plans, he proposed freezing the fair market value ratio, maintaining special deductions for long-term ownership, and adjusting the tax base for property and comprehensive real estate taxes to reflect inflation rates.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government stated that it has conducted a comprehensive review of real estate policies announced since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration, diagnosed the current market situation based on its own analysis of sales, jeonse (long-term deposit rental), and monthly rent market trends, and presented the need for institutional supplementation.

Seoul City explained that as of May this year, the sales price of apartments in Seoul rose by 11% compared to the same month last year, while jeonse prices rose by 6.8% and monthly rents by 6.6%, showing a high upward trend across the board.

Mayor Oh emphasized that there are limits to resolving the housing instability felt by citizens through regulation-centered policies alone, and that institutional supplementation is necessary to restore market functions centered on actual demand and to establish a foundation for stable housing supply.

The proposal also includes cases of policy damage experienced by various groups, including young people, newlyweds, single-home owners, and long-term rental business operators.

He diagnosed that such difficulties for actual users are leading to structural problems rather than being a temporary phenomenon.

"The market can only stabilize when supply is supported, and young people and ordinary citizens can plan for their future again," Mayor Oh said. "As housing policy is the policy closest to the lives of the people, I hope it will be actively reflected in the government's housing policy."

Earlier this morning, at the cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee, a departmental report and discussion were held under the theme of a plan to collect public opinion on real estate policy. At the end of the discussion, Mayor Oh requested to speak, saying, "Prime Minister, may I, the Mayor of Seoul, say a few words?" However, Prime Minister Han replied, "We will receive the opinions you wish to provide in writing," and did not grant him an opportunity to speak publicly.

Later, before the meeting switched to a closed-door session for deliberation on bills, President Lee gave Mayor Oh a chance to speak, saying, "You haven't been here in a while, so please say a few words of greeting." When Mayor Oh attempted to bring up the real estate issue again, President Lee dissuaded him, saying, "Please talk about that later."

(Photo: Provided by the Blue House Press Corps, Yonhap News)