Korean government to lift greenbelt restriction in Seoul as part of 50,000 new home project

This file photo shows apartment buildings in Songpa District, Seoul. Yonhap

The government said Tuesday it plans to lift greenbelt restrictions on a designated zone in southern Seoul, the first such removal in the capital in 12 years, as part of efforts to supply 50,000 new housing units in the greater capital region by 2031.

In a follow-up measure to its housing supply blueprint announced in August, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will remove restrictions on over 2.21 million square meters of greenbelt area in Seoripul of Seoul’s southern district of Seocho to supply a total of 20,000 units.

Greenbelt zones in Seoul have not been lifted since 2012.

The government announced four other non-greenbelt housing supply zones in the cities of Goyang, Uijeongbu and Uiwang of Gyeonggi Province, where an additional 30,000 homes will be built for residential move-ins by 2031.

The ministry described the sites for new housing developments as requiring systematic and planned development, or regions with sporadically developed factories and warehouses.

In particular, the ministry noted Seoul’s Seoripul area as being situated within the highly desired Gangnam area, which refers to the southern part of the Han River in Seoul.

The ministry plans to designate additional zones in the greater capital region in the first half of 2025 to supply 30,000 more housing units.

The move to boost home supplies in the capital region comes as housing prices, particularly apartment prices, have been rising at a fast clip in Seoul and the adjacent regions due to short supplies and real estate project financing issues. (Yonhap)