LH to Acquire 7,500 Public Jeonse Housing Units for the Middle Class

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) will purchase 7,500 new public jeonse housing units targeting Seoul, the metropolitan area, and provincial metropolitan cities.

This is part of the newly introduced public jeonse housing supply announced in the government's "Support Plan for Housing Stability for Low-income and Middle-class" on November 19.

Public jeonse housing refers to newly built multi-family houses, officetels, and other residences with spacious areas and pleasant living environments in urban areas, purchased by public housing providers such as LH, and temporarily supplied to middle-class households for two years from 2021 to 2022.

Residents are selected through a random lottery among non-homeowner households regardless of income or assets. Residents can live for up to six years at a rent of 90% or less of the market jeonse price.

Accordingly, LH plans to supply a total of 7,500 newly built housing units with three or more rooms, focusing on areas with convenient public transportation and excellent living infrastructure in Seoul, the metropolitan area, and provincial metropolitan cities.

In the first half of next year, 2,500 units nationwide including 500 units in Seoul will be supplied, and in the second half, 5,000 units nationwide including 1,000 units in Seoul will be supplied.

LH plans to secure newly built houses either by purchasing completed new houses or by contracting with private developers for houses under construction as 'private purchase contract type' newly built houses.

For existing house purchases, LH will buy newly built houses within two years of completion, with three or more rooms, spacious areas, and pleasant residential environments at the neighborhood level.

Developers interested in selling can apply through the LH website from January 6 to February 10 next year. For the private purchase contract type, LH will select contract targets considering guidelines on interior and materials presented by LH.

Following the integrated announcement today, LH will start consultations and applications according to individual announcements by LH regional headquarters nationwide from the 28th.

To encourage participation from private construction companies, LH introduced that it will first implement the low-interest construction fund support plan with interest rates in the 1% range, announced in the measures on the 19th of last month.

Private developers who sign contract agreements will receive an advance payment of part of the expected purchase amount at the time of securing land.

For constructing houses with three or more rooms and exclusive areas of 59 to 85㎡ in Seoul, the construction fund is provided interest-free; for constructing houses with exclusive areas of 46㎡ or more in Seoul and some parts of the metropolitan area, construction funds are supported at a 1% interest rate.

An LH official said, "Through this purchase announcement, we will promptly supply spacious and pleasant houses in urban areas that satisfy low-income and middle-class households, contributing to alleviating the jeonse housing shortage in the metropolitan area."

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