최근 우리나라에 ‘빈집’이 증가하고 있는데, 이는 더 이상 지방․농어촌지역만의 문제가 아니며 전국적인 문제가 되고 있다. 이에 2018년 2월 「빈집 및 소규모주택 정비에 관한 특례법」(이하, 소규모주택정비법)을 제정하여 시행하고 있다. 그러나 현행 소규모주택정비법은 소규모주택정비사업 중심의 법제라는 에서 한계를 가지고 있으며, 빈집문제의 원인제공자인 빈집 소유자에 대한 책임조항이 결여되어 있고, 주민참여를 통한 빈집활용 재생사업에 대한 규정이 미비되어 있다는 점 등에서 한계를 가지고 있다. 한편, 일본의 빈집대책특별조치법은 빈집정비만을 규정한 특화된 법률이라는 점과 빈집의 개념을 ‘일반빈집’과 ‘특정빈집’으로 명확히 구별하여 다양한 행정조치를 취하고 있으며, 원인제공자인 소유권자 등에게 빈집에 관한 책임을 부과하고, 그 책임에 기해 자발적 철거를 유도하고 한편 행정대집행까지 가능하도록 행정조치 방안을 마련하면서, 빈집을 자원의 순환․활용 그리고 예방이라는 점에 방점을 두면서, 활용형 빈집재생 형태로 대응하고 있다는 점은 살펴보았다. 한편, 동법은 빈집정비라는 행정목적 달성을 위해 즉시강제, 행정지도, 이행강제금의 행정수단을 사용하고 있는데, 이러한 행정수단의 사용은 비례원칙을 준수하여야 하며, 「행정기본법」 및 「행정절차법」 상의 관련 규정을 준수하는 형식으로 개정할 필요가 있다. 덧붙여 이행강제금과 관련하여 실효성의 한계를 재검토하여 재구성할 필요가 있을 것으로 보인다. 마지막으로 동법은 민·관의 협력적 행정체계 구축에 대해 명시적으로 규정할 필요가 있다. 특히 일률적인 빈집 대책이 되지 않도록 지역 주민 등의 요구에 부응하고 적절한 예방 및 활용 등을 도모하기 위해서 지역 주민 등의 의견을 적극 반영할 필요가 있다.
Recently, the number of ‘unoccupied houses’ is increasing in Korea, and this is no longer a problem only for rural and rural areas, but a nationwide problem. Accordingly, in February 2018, 「Act on Special Cases concerning unoccupied house or small-scale housing improvement」 was enacted and implemented. However, the Act has limitations in that it is a legal system centered on small-scale housing maintenance projects, lacks a provision on liability for owners of unoccupied houses, and lacks regulations on unoccupied house utilization regeneration projects through resident participation. On the other hand, Act on special measures for unoccupied houses of Japan is a specialized law that only regulates the maintenance of unoccupied houses, and it takes various administrative measures by clearly distinguishing the concept of empty houses into ‘general unoccupied houses’ and ‘specific ones’. The Act of Japan imposes responsibilities on unoccupied houses on the owner who is the cause, induces voluntary demolition, measures administrative proxy execution, and is responding in the form of utilization-type unoccupied houses regeneration while focusing on the recycling, utilization and prevention of unoccupied houses. The revision of the Act of Korea in the future should start with a reexamination of the public interest and functional distribution based on these limitations and the implications of Japan. ① Regarding the underuse of the owner of unoccupied house, one"s ownership constitutes a mutually beneficial community and at the same time follows restrictions. Revision of the law should be pursued in the legal dogma of taking responsibility for the police. And ② In relation to the demolition order for the unoccupied houses, it is necessary to legislate a system of administrative control mechanisms that are clear at a glance because it will have to be carried out in full consideration of the amount of profit between the private and public interest. And ③ In accordance with the Act, unoccupied houses at risk was reported and an on-site investigation was conducted, but if the administrative agency does not take any administrative measures, the neighboring residents should consider that the right to demand appropriate measures for the unoccupied houses that is old enough to be subject to demolition. It is also necessary to consider the provision of a regulation on national liability in case of violation. On the other hand, the Act uses administrative means of immediate coercion, administrative guidance, and compulsory payment to achieve the administrative purpose of unoccupied houses maintenance, and needs to be amended in a form that complies with the relevant provisions of the 「General act on public administration」 and 「Administrative Procedures Act」. In addition, it seems necessary to re-examine and reorganize the limits of effectiveness in relation to the compulsory performance payment. Lastly, the Act needs to explicitly stipulate the establishment of a public-private cooperative administrative system. In particular, it is necessary to actively reflect the opinions of local residents in order to promote appropriate prevention and utilization for unoccupied houses.