Seoul City to Supply 378 Homeless Support Housing Units by 2023

Recruitment for New Unit 60 Residents on 27-28 This Month... Support for Community Settlement and Housing Maintenance

Community space of homeless support housing in Seodaemun-gu.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 15th that it will supply 378 homeless support housing units by 2023 to support the reintegration and self-sufficiency of homeless people in the community.

Homeless support housing is public rental housing provided by the city that offers living spaces along with daily life support and social services such as medical care and rehabilitation to homeless individuals who face difficulties living independently due to physical or mental limitations. Most units are studio-type row houses with an exclusive area of around 15 to 30㎡ per household, and the contract terms upon moving in include a deposit of 3 million KRW and monthly rent ranging from 140,000 to 230,000 KRW.

The target residents are homeless individuals with mental illness or alcohol dependence issues, selected based on criteria such as housing vulnerability including duration of homelessness, health status, and the possibility of maintaining housing.

Since the pilot project started in November 2016 with 38 units, Seoul currently operates 80 studio-type homeless support housing units. For the second supply of 60 units in 2019, the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation will announce the recruitment of residents on the 15th via its website (http://www.i-sh.go.kr) and accept applications on the 27th and 28th.

Following the existing 80 units and the 60 units to be supplied this time, Seoul plans to secure an additional 58 new units by the end of this year, operating a total of 198 homeless support housing units, and will add 60 units annually to expand the supply to 378 units by 2023.

Dedicated case managers will be assigned by separate service providers selected by the city to these housing units to assist residents with initial settlement, rehabilitation support such as medication and hospital visits, daily life and hygiene management, and linking welfare services to help them settle in the community and maintain housing.

To reduce the deposit burden for homeless residents moving into support housing, the E-Land Foundation will provide interest-free support of 3 million KRW per unit for the deposit.

Kang Byung-ho, Director of Welfare Policy at Seoul City, said, "We will continue to expand the supply of homeless support housing and work harder to help homeless people living on the streets or in facilities return to the community."

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