30,000 New Leaseholders Added in Q1... 37% Increase Compared to Previous Quarter

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 24th that 30,000 people newly registered as rental business operators in the first quarter of this year, and the number of registered rental houses increased by 62,000 units.

The surge in new registrations appears to be due to the mandatory registration of rental income earners with annual income below 20 million KRW, which has been enforced since this year.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 30,000 people registered as rental business operators during the first quarter, bringing the total number of registered rental business operators to 511,000.

The number of new rental business operators increased by 37.1% compared to 22,000 in the previous quarter. In the Seoul metropolitan area, 21,000 new registrations were recorded, a 30.9% increase from the previous quarter, and Seoul itself saw 9,400 new registrations, up 27.4% during the same period.

An official from the Ministry explained the surge in new registrations by stating, "From this year, full taxation is applied to rental income below 20 million KRW annually, making registration of these rental business operators mandatory under the Income Tax Act."

Owners of two or more houses with monthly rental income, even if their rental income did not exceed 20 million KRW last year, must report and pay income tax starting this year. It is explained that many of these owners registered en masse ahead of the registration grace period deadline.

The Ministry official added, "Since January 21, the National Tax Service registration deadline, the number of new registrations has decreased monthly."

Currently, the total number of registered rental houses nationwide is 1,569,000 units. The number of newly registered houses in the first quarter increased by 52.1% compared to 41,000 units in the previous quarter.

In the Seoul metropolitan area, the number increased by 40,000 units, a 41.8% rise from the previous quarter, and Seoul saw an increase of 18,000 units, up 36.9% from the previous quarter.

Looking closely at the newly registered rental houses, 35,000 units with a publicly announced price of 600 million KRW or less accounted for 87% of the total. Non-apartment types such as detached houses, multi-family houses, and officetels accounted for 46,000 units, or 74.2% of the total, while apartments accounted for 16,000 units, or 25.8%.

Among houses with a publicly announced price exceeding 600 million KRW, apartments numbered only 777 units, accounting for just 1.9% of the total.

Meanwhile, the Ministry plans to continue strengthening the management of registered rental business operators and protecting tenant rights this year as well. To this end, a voluntary reporting period for lease contracts is being operated from the 2nd of last month until June 30.

After the voluntary reporting period ends, joint inspections of public duty violations targeting rental business operators will be conducted by related agencies in 229 cities, counties, and districts nationwide.

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