The Seoul Metropolitan Government has unveiled plans to prohibit the use of basements and semi-basements as residential units in the capital.

The Seoul government revealed the plan on Wednesday as it announced safety measures seeking to protect residents living in such houses that were hit by the latest record downpours.

The city will first consult with the government on ways to revise building regulations to fully disallow basements and semi-basements from being used for living purposes before working to implement the plan over time.

Current laws only limit new semi-basement housing from being built in areas prone to flooding, in accordance with a regulation that went into effect in 2012 after revisions were made to building laws in the wake of heavy downpours in 2010 that caused a number of casualties and damages.

The Seoul government appears to be seeking to further tighten such regulations as more than 40-thousand semi-basement houses were built despite the the rule that went into effect in 2012.

The municipal government's latest announcement comes on the heels of the deaths of a family living in a semi-basement apartment in Gwanak District, killed overnight in a flash flood resulting from torrential rains earlier on Tuesday.