Seoul City Expands Eligibility for Monthly Rent Support Housing Vouchers

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 6th that it will expand the eligibility for the 'Housing Voucher' welfare program for the near-poor class.

The Seoul-type Housing Voucher is a program implemented by the Seoul Metropolitan Government since May 2002 to support near-poor households who are not recipients of housing benefits or do not reside in public rental housing. Since April, it has been providing 80,000 KRW per month for single-person households.

The city has relaxed the selection criteria for beneficiaries of this program by increasing the private housing and goshiwon rental deposit limit from the previous "95 million KRW or less" to "110 million KRW or less."

Additionally, the method of calculating the 'recognized income amount,' which added the income conversion amount of assets to the actual monthly income based on income and asset criteria, has been abolished. Going forward, those with an income of 1.06 million KRW or less for a single-person household (60% or less of the median income), assets totaling 160 million KRW or less after subtracting debts from the sum of general assets, car value, and financial assets, and financial assets of 65 million KRW or less will be eligible. Households may own one or fewer cars.

A Seoul city official explained, "We have relaxed the housing voucher selection criteria to reflect the reality that housing costs and price levels in Seoul are higher than in other regions."

Recipients of livelihood benefits, medical benefits, and housing benefits under the National Basic Livelihood Security System are excluded from eligibility.

Applications can be made at the local community service center of the resident registration area at any time. The district office in charge will decide on support eligibility after investigating income and assets. For more details, inquiries can be made to the Dasan Call Center at 120.

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