Seoul Mayor Vows to Press Ahead With 310,000-Home Supply Plan

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the city government will push ahead with a large-scale housing supply program as shortages and rising prices intensify pressure on the capital’s residential market.

Speaking during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul city government on Thursday, Oh said construction had already begun on 15,000 homes this year. The broader plan calls for ground to be broken on 310,000 units by 2031 through redevelopment and reconstruction projects.

Oh presented sustained supply as the central part of the city’s response to housing concerns. He said Seoul had accelerated improvement projects through its rapid integrated planning system and would continue working to remove practical obstacles and what he described as unfair regulations at development sites.

The pledge places redevelopment and reconstruction at the center of Seoul’s effort to increase the number of homes available in a market where supply constraints have contributed to sharp price increases. The city’s target is measured in projects beginning construction rather than completed homes, meaning the pace at which planned developments move from approval to building work will be an important measure of progress.

The 15,000 units that began construction this year represent an initial step toward the longer-term target. Reaching 310,000 groundbreaking starts by 2031 would require the city to maintain a much larger pipeline across multiple years and development areas. Oh’s remarks indicate that municipal officials intend to focus on keeping that pipeline moving rather than allowing regulatory or site-specific disputes to halt supply.

Redevelopment and reconstruction can add substantial housing in built-up districts where large undeveloped sites are scarce. At the same time, such projects involve numerous planning, approval and implementation stages. The mayor’s emphasis on easing on-site difficulties suggests the city sees administrative speed as a key factor in translating announced targets into active construction.

Oh said sufficient and continuous supply was the starting point for reducing housing anxiety. His comments framed the policy not as a one-time release of sites but as a sustained program intended to prevent interruptions in the flow of new projects.

The plan will now be judged by whether annual groundbreaking figures remain on track and whether accelerated planning produces construction at the scale promised. For Seoul residents facing limited availability and higher prices, the key outcome will be how quickly the city’s long-range target becomes homes under construction across the capital.