[2020 National Audit] Local Happy Housing Overlooked Due to Disconnected Living Infrastructure

Jo O-seop, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea. (Provided by Jo O-seop's Office)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] It has been revealed that Happy Housing, a type of public rental housing supplied for vulnerable groups such as newlyweds, youth, and the elderly, is being neglected as it is built in locations isolated from essential living infrastructure like education and transportation.

According to data submitted by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to Jo O-seop, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, as of the end of June, out of 56,769 households in 107 Happy Housing complexes nationwide, 5,238 households have been vacant for more than six months, accounting for 9.2%.

The vacancy rate for Happy Housing units vacant for over six months had somewhat decreased from 7.3% in 2018 to 3.6% last year but has recently shown a sharp increase again. Compared to other public rental housing supplied by LH, such as National Rental Housing (0.7%) and Permanent Rental Housing (1.7%), the rate is significantly higher.

This vacancy rate issue is more severe in regions outside the metropolitan area. The average vacancy rate in the metropolitan area is 3.88%, with Seoul at 0.4% and Incheon at 2.5%, all below the average. In contrast, the vacancy rate outside the metropolitan area averages 11.39%, about three times higher. Ulsan (21.5%) and Gyeongnam (21.3%) had more than one in five households vacant.

In particular, the Chungbuk Chungju Advanced Happy Housing recorded the longest vacancy period nationwide, with 100 out of 295 households (33.9%) vacant for 1,264 days (3 years and 5 months). Among the total 107 complexes, 32 had vacancy rates exceeding 10%. Six complexes, including Chungju Advanced, had vacancy rates over 30%.

Assemblyman Jo pointed out that poor living infrastructure is the main cause of the high vacancy rates in the 32 complexes with vacancy rates above 10%. Among these, 11 complexes (34.4%) are located within or near industrial complexes, isolated from urban living areas, resulting in poor residential conditions such as transportation, schools, and medical environments.

Regarding transportation, complexes with vacancy rates over 10% have an average of 3.9 bus routes passing through, whereas those with vacancy rates over 30% have only 2.5 bus routes on average. The walking distance to the nearest elementary school is 12 minutes on average for vacancy rates over 10%, 15.5 minutes for over 20%, and 20 minutes for over 30%. The distance to the emergency room also correlates with vacancy rates: 5.7 km for over 10%, 7.0 km for over 20%, and 7.9 km for over 30% vacancy rates.

Assemblyman Jo O-seop stated, "Since Happy Rental Housing aims to alleviate housing insecurity and provide stable housing for vulnerable groups such as newlyweds and youth, more consideration should be given to the qualitative aspects of housing." He added, "To improve social perceptions such as the stigma of 'you get what you pay for' regarding Happy Housing, it should be supplied in urban areas where living infrastructure is well established."

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