Lee vows to increase new housing supply

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Friday renewed his campaign pledge to significantly increase new housing supply during his term to ensure all aspiring home owners in South Korea can attain their dream.
"My government will strive to help newlywed couples and all ordinary households
buy their own homes through a drastic expansion of new housing supply," Lee was
quoted by his spokesman as saying in his breakfast meeting with ruling party
leader Park Hee-tae.
The housing increase was a key part of Lee's "economic revival" pledge during his
presidential campaign last year. He won a landslide victory last December owing
to overwhelming support from voters concerned about an economic slump.
In recent months, Lee, formerly Hyundai Construction's chief executive officer,
has repeatedly stressed the need for sweeping urban redevelopment and public
infrastructure projects as a means to stimulate the sluggish economy.
"President Lee again emphasized his government's housing supply policy. He is now
mulling various practical measures to help low-income families buy their own home
at reasonable prices," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said in a media
briefing.
"The president intends to eliminate homeless households during his term."
According to government statistics, South Korea's housing supply rate reached
108.1 percent as of the end of last year. But considering the 3.3 million
one-person households and other statistical loopholes, the nation's actual home
ownership ratio is estimated at slightly over 50 percent.