Anyone with an annual income of 60 million won and assets of 288 million won or less can now qualify for public rental housing.

Integration of Existing Yeonggu, National Rental, and Happy Housing Types
Simplification of Application Qualifications · Differentiation of Rent

Expansion of Eligibility for Rental Housing for Newlyweds, Including Newlywed Hope Town, to Households with Children Aged 6 and Under

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] In the future, anyone who meets certain income and asset criteria will be able to move into public rental housing. The types of public rental housing will be unified, and rent will be differentiated according to specific income levels. The eligibility for newlywed hope towns, which was previously limited to couples married within 7 years, will be expanded to all households with children aged 6 or younger.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport held the 5th Housing Welfare Council on the 20th and announced a housing welfare roadmap containing these details.

Through this roadmap, the government revised its previous goal of achieving 2 million long-term public rental housing units by 2022, raising the target to 2.4 million units by 2025. The plan is to increase the long-term public rental housing stock rate to 10%, surpassing the OECD average of 8%.

The application qualifications and move-in methods, which varied greatly by housing type, have also been simplified. The three types of constructed rental housing?National Rental, Permanent Rental, and Happy Housing?will be integrated into one, and eligibility will be unified to those with income below 130% of the median income and assets below the average net asset value of the 3rd to 5th quintiles. For a three-person household, anyone without a home with an annual income below 60.36 million KRW and assets below 288.11 million KRW will be eligible for public rental housing.

A Ministry of Land official explained, "Excluding the 50% priority supply for persons with disabilities, national merit recipients, etc., the remaining 50% general supply will select tenants through a lottery regardless of income level, as long as the relevant criteria are met."

Instead, rent will be differentiated according to income level. Those with less than 30% of median income will pay about 35% of the nearby market rent, while those with 100-130% of median income will pay 80% of market rent. The Ministry expects that about 32% of the housing supplied will be at the minimum rent level.

Additionally, households will be able to live in housing that meets minimum residential area standards (14㎡ per person), and the allowable residence period will be simplified to 6-10 years for youth and newlyweds, and a desired period for the elderly and recipients of benefits. The application process will also be simplified by introducing a system where, after a single application, applicants are placed on a waiting list and only need to wait until a suitable rental becomes available.

The government will first supply 610 units in Gwacheon Knowledge Information Town and 577 units in Namyangju Byeollae as pilot complexes next year, and from 2023, all types of constructed rental housing will be integrated and supplied. In particular, all public rental units in the 3rd new towns will be supplied in the unified type.

The Ministry of Land has expanded the eligibility for public rental housing for newlyweds, which was previously limited to couples married within 7 years, to "households with children aged 6 or younger." Middle-aged couples who have been married for over 10 years but recently had children will now be eligible for newlywed hope town housing. However, the Ministry added that this criterion applies only to public rental housing and will not be extended to other sectors such as sale housing.

Along with this, a redevelopment project for aging permanent rental housing will also be promoted. Starting with the selection of pilot areas in November, gradual redevelopment will begin.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.