Seoul to immediately designate redevelopment and Moa Town sites as land transaction permit zones

Seoul plans to immediately designate areas chosen for its rapid integration redevelopment and Moa Town projects as 'Land Transaction Permit Zones.' This move aims to curb property speculation and the trading of development rights that often surge due to anticipation of redevelopment.

Previously, these zones were designated through a separate process after a candidate site was selected. However, under the new policy, approved by the city's Urban Planning Committee, the designation of permit zones and their associated regulations and periods will be announced concurrently with the selection of redevelopment candidate sites. This integrated approach seeks to preemptively control speculative activities.

Designation as a Land Transaction Permit Zone requires individuals to obtain permission from the local district office before buying or selling land or housing exceeding a certain size. For residential areas, this threshold is 6 square meters of land share; for commercial and industrial areas, it is 15 square meters; and for green areas, it is 20 square meters. Once permission is granted, the property must be used for the stated purpose, such as actual residence or business operation, thereby restricting transactions based solely on expected price increases.

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The new policy links the designation of permit zones directly with the selection of redevelopment candidate sites, applying stricter controls to curb speculative transactions.

The scope of regulation varies by project type. For rapid integration redevelopment candidate sites, the entire project area, including housing and land, will be designated as a permit zone to broadly prevent transactions aimed at profiting from price hikes. In contrast, for Moa Town projects, only land designated as 'road' in the land registry will be regulated, not all housing within the project area. This targets speculative transactions involving the purchase of small plots of road access, often referred to as 'private roads,' within Moa Town areas, where individuals buy small shares to demand compensation or eligibility for new housing during redevelopment.

The first areas to be designated under this new policy include Seokgwan-dong 207-1 in Seongbuk District and Am sa-dong 495 in Gangdong District, where regulations on road shares will be in effect from August 11 to August 10, 2031. Rapid integration redevelopment candidate sites selected on July 29 will face regulations across their entire project areas from August 11 of this year until August 30, 2027. Seoul intends to apply this same approach to all future candidate sites selected.

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In Moa Town projects, only land designated as 'road' in the land registry will be regulated, not all housing within the project area.