[Free Speech Forum] Time to Think About `Housing Quality`

As of 2021, the average residential floor area per person was only 29.7㎡ (9.0 pyeong). Compared with 26.1㎡ (7.9 pyeong) in 2016, it increased by only 2%. This is a space so small that once a bed and wardrobe are placed inside, even one person would find it difficult to move around comfortably. Residents who lived in apartment housing of 62㎡ (about 19 pyeong) in 1990 are still living in just 69.4㎡ (21 pyeong) today. In the end, residential space has barely increased over the past 30 years.

Korea’s residential floor area per person lags far behind that of advanced countries such as the United States and Japan. In the United States, residential floor area per person is 65.0㎡ (as of 2019), or 2.2 times that of Korea. It is also far smaller than Japan’s figure (40.2㎡), despite Japan having many compact homes.

Everyone wants to live in a good home. A home with adequate space and guaranteed safety can be called a good home. If it is so cramped that privacy cannot be ensured, it cannot be regarded as good housing. In this respect, Korea can be seen as failing to provide its people with adequate living space.

Article 35 of the Constitution stipulates that all citizens have the right to live a humane life in a healthy and pleasant environment, and that the state has a duty to strive to ensure pleasant housing conditions for the people. However, in an effort to use land more efficiently, the state is building more housing units within minimum space requirements and thereby providing even smaller living areas. The time has come for the state to focus no longer on the “quantity” of housing but on its “quality.”

To address this, the state can consider solutions broadly from the perspectives of supply and regulation. First, from the supply side, it can expand the limited land available. In other words, if land not designated for residential use is converted into residential land and housing is built on it, the supply of housing will naturally increase. This would make it possible to supply larger homes and thereby provide people with more spacious living environments. Second, the supply of new towns should be significantly increased. If all aging areas of Seoul were to be redeveloped, the time and cost involved, as well as the housing shortages people would face during redevelopment, would be beyond imagination. One new town provides more than about 60,000 households’ worth of housing. This is equivalent to the amount that could be supplied through eight years of housing redevelopment in Seoul.

Meanwhile, from the regulatory side, taxes on mid- to large-sized apartments should be lowered. At present, for homes with an exclusive floor area of 85㎡ or less, a local education tax is added based on the acquisition tax amount. But when this threshold is exceeded, a special tax for rural development is also imposed. In the end, this acts as a major obstacle for end-users who want to purchase mid- to large-sized apartments. Therefore, if regulations on end-users are eased, the quality of people’s housing could improve.

The government has a duty to strive to guarantee both housing itself and the “right to live a humane life” for the people. As society develops, the quality of housing must inevitably improve as well. The government now needs to raise the minimum residential floor area for new housing supply and expand housing size in order to provide the people with a pleasant residential environment.

Seonhye Lee

Intern Researcher, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [자유발언대] 이젠 '주택의 질'을 생각할 때

Author: Seon-hye Lee

Date: 2021-09-02

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=free_opinion&pn=10&idx=24174