Busan Metropolitan City is rolling out structural policies to reduce quality-of-life conflicts in apartment complexes, including management fee corruption, noise disputes between floors, and aging facility safety concerns. The city announced Thursday it has established and will implement its "2026 Comprehensive Apartment Management Plan."
The plan focuses on creating a residential community culture that systematically manages and harmonizes housing issues in apartment complexes. The city will pursue 12 detailed initiatives centered on three pillars: fair management, resident communication, and enhanced safety.
First, the city will conduct special audits to block irregularities and corruption, shifting from a detection-focused approach to one centered on institutional improvement and prevention. A "Management Fee Reduction Care Support Team" comprising 15 experts will provide on-site consulting, while the "Proper Apartment Management Resident School" program will enhance the capabilities of resident representative councils and management bodies.
The conflict management system will also be reorganized. An advisory support team of 31 professionals, including lawyers and accountants, will operate on a regular basis to provide customized consulting across all areas including legal, accounting, and inter-floor noise issues. The city will expand operation of its "Inter-Floor Noise Conflict Support Team" and strengthen dispute resolution criteria in management regulation standards and model management complex evaluations to encourage voluntary conflict mediation culture.
Safety investment will also expand. The city will implement a 300 million won ($220,000) residential safety support program for apartment complexes over 30 years old, extending coverage from existing common area repairs to fire safety facilities. It will subsidize regular inspection costs for small-scale complexes and provide parking facility installation support to address chronic parking shortages.
The city plans to maximize policy effectiveness by focusing on issues that residents feel most acutely, such as management fees, inter-floor noise, and parking problems. "We will shift apartment management toward prevention and solve problems that citizens experience in daily life on the ground," a city official said. "We will create a city where safe housing and neighborly consideration coexist."
