Rent-to-Jeonse Conversion Rate Lowered to 2.5%... Korea Commission on Human Rights Issues Complaint Forecast

On the 19th, the government decided to lower the jeonse-to-monthly rent conversion rate from the existing 4% to around 2.5%. Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated at the meeting of ministers in charge of real estate market inspection that the current 4% conversion rate could accelerate the trend toward monthly rent and increase the burden on tenants, leading to this decision. The photo shows a real estate agency in Jamsil, Seoul on the same day. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 8th that, since the monthly rent-to-jeonse conversion rate was lowered to 2.5% starting from the 29th of last month, it expects an increase in related complaints and has notified relevant agencies to refer to this for complaint occurrence and response.

On the same day, the Commission released the 'September 2020 Complaint Trends' report, analyzing big data of complaints collected over the past month through its complaint analysis system.

The total number of complaints last month was 1,180,516, a 10.7% decrease compared to the previous month (1,321,840), but a 29.8% increase compared to the same month last year (909,679).

By sector, complaints were highest in police (28.7%), transportation (17.2%), and housing construction (9.8%).

Complaints in the education sector (58.2%) and labor sector (40.7%) increased due to demands for school establishment in new towns and various inquiries related to support funds for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The top complaint keywords last month included illegal parking, fines, prospective residents, self-investment, and student safety.

By institution type, the Office of Education saw the largest increase (72.0%), while local governments decreased (22.2%).

Among central administrative agencies, the newly launched Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency saw a 436.4% increase compared to the previous month due to COVID-19 related inquiries (623 cases), and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups increased by 199.3% (808 cases) due to inquiries about various support funds such as the Small Business New Hope Fund.

Among local governments, Seoul Songpa-gu recorded the largest increase (202.8%) compared to the previous month with a total of 9,731 complaints, including 4,843 complaints related to the naming of a new station on Subway Line 8.

Among public institutions, the Korea National Railway Corporation and Ulsan Facilities Corporation increased due to a large number of complaints (647 cases) demanding the extension of Indong Line Line 1 and the establishment of Solbitnaru Station.

This month’s keyword of interest is the monthly rent-to-jeonse conversion rate, selected as various inquiries and complaints are expected following the enforcement of the 'Housing Lease Protection Act Enforcement Decree' lowering the conversion rate to 2.5% from the 29th of last month. Relevant agencies have been notified to refer to this for complaint prevention and response.

Complaints related to the monthly rent-to-jeonse conversion rate received up to September this year include ▲conversion rate when changing from monthly rent to jeonse ▲whether the landlord is obligated to pay when requesting an additional 5% increase under the rent increase claim right ▲applicable rates in case of deposit increase, among others.

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