Abstract
The aim of this study is to minimize the various social problems caused by the growing number of vacant houses in the urban areas and suggest ways to improve the legal and institutional system for promoting the maintenance and utilization of vacant houses. Due to changes in social conditions, the vacant houses continue to increase, and urban regeneration is emerging as a policy tool for renovating old and deteriorating built-up areas. In the face of the necessity of the managing vacant houses and its surrounding areas, it was suggested that vacant housing should be defined as "housing and buildings", not just "housing", since there are limitations on the maintenance of them. In addition, statistics on vacant houses are causing confusion because of the difference between surveyed data and vacant houses, which are recognized as problems in urban areas. Therefore, it was suggested to improve the accuracy and reliability of vacant housing statistics. In order to promote the maintenance and utilization of vacant housing, it was proposed an amendment of vacant housing-related laws that grant substantive tax benefits to enable more active participation of vacant homeowners and people who participate in vacant housing maintenance.