Assemblywoman Yang Hyang-ja Proposes Bill to Alleviate Economic Burden of Public Rental Housing Tenants

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the National Assembly (Democratic Party of Korea·Gwangju Seo-gu Eul), announced on the 28th that she has taken the lead in proposing the “Public Housing Special Act Amendment” to significantly alleviate the economic burden on public rental housing tenants.

The amendment includes provisions allowing public housing operators to pay part of the management expenses differentially according to the type of public rental housing, and enabling the state or local governments to support all or part of these costs.

Currently, public rental housing managed by LH consists of apartments supplied at prices lower than market rates for socially vulnerable groups, with strict eligibility conditions.

Only single-parent families, recipients of livelihood and medical benefits, urban workers with an average monthly income below 70%, persons with disabilities, and basic livelihood security recipients aged 65 or older are eligible for residency.

Among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, municipalities with more than 10,000 permanent rental households are limited to four regions: Seoul (about 22,000 households), Busan (about 15,000 households), Daegu (about 12,000 households), and Gwangju (about 10,000 households). Among these, Gwangju (5.17%) is the only municipality exceeding the national average permanent rental housing delinquency rate of 3.46%.

With the prolonged damage caused by COVID-19, if the amendment passes the National Assembly, it is expected that the economic burden on public rental housing tenants nationwide will be greatly alleviated.

Currently, under the “National Basic Livelihood Security Act,” electricity, water, and city gas fees are partially reduced for public rental housing tenants such as basic livelihood recipients, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, but there is no legal basis for reducing management fees of public rental housing.

Regarding the background of the bill proposal, Assemblywoman Yang explained, “Compared to relatively low rent, management fees are not much different from other apartments, which places a significant economic burden on vulnerable groups. Especially, the delinquency rate of permanent rental housing management fees in Gwangju and Jeonnam has recorded the highest levels for several years, making this bill urgent for their housing stability.”

Meanwhile, the “Public Housing Special Act Amendment” led by Assemblywoman Yang Hyang-ja was co-sponsored by Assemblymen Lee Yong-bin, Shin Jeong-hoon, Park Sung-joon, Jeon Hye-sook, Ko Yong-jin, Sung Il-jong, Yang Jeong-sook, Lee Eun-joo, Kim Min-seok, Yoon Jae-gap, Hong Sung-guk, Kim Hyung-dong, Lee Won-taek, and Jo Oh-seop.

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