“고분양가 방치한 부동산 정책, 과열만 부추겨”…경실련, 재검토 촉구

Citizen organizations have criticized the recent housing policies of the Lee Myung-bak government as "root causes of market overheating," urging a comprehensive review. Instead of stabilizing property prices and ensuring affordable housing for the general public, these policies have favored private entrepreneurs and created market instability.

The Economic Justice Practice Citizen Union (EJP) held a press conference on August 18th at a venue in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to criticize the "8.3 Housing Tax Reform Bill" and the "8.13 Housing Policy Measures" of the Lee Myung-bak government.

EJP highlighted several issues with these policies. Firstly, the land allocation scheme and revenue-sharing model in the 8.13 housing supply plan could burden taxpayers with expensive mortgage payments, as it essentially maintains high purchase prices through debt. To address this, EJP advocated for a full transition to "land lease housing," where the government owns the land and only sells the buildings at a 30% lower supply price.

They also criticized other measures such as expanding new housing supply and relaxing building regulations for villa construction, as these policies may distort the market by favoring private entrepreneurs.

EJP also expressed dissatisfaction with the housing tax reform bill. They noted that the decision to set the standard for 1-family housing tax based on the current market value, rather than the original purchase price, could lead to a "bubbles effect," increasing prices for apartments priced below 20 billion won. They called for a modest increase in the portion of the market value used to calculate housing tax (from 60% to 70-80%) and for the cancellation of tax benefits for certain renovation projects. They also called for a comprehensive review of the tax reform bill.