Incheon Yeonsu-gu Provides Half-Price Rental Housing for Housing-Vulnerable Groups

An empty house in Okryeon-dong, Yeonsu-gu, scheduled for demolition
[Photo provided by Yeonsu-gu, Incheon]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, is promoting a project to renovate abandoned vacant houses in the old downtown area and rent them out at low prices to vulnerable housing groups.

This project aims to reduce the housing cost burden by renting to young people, local students, newlyweds, etc., at half the market rent for monthly or yearly leases, and to manage vacant houses to create a pleasant residential environment.

The district will complete renovations on three old and abandoned multi-family vacant houses located at 520-3 Cheonghak-dong, 562-7 and 512-14 Okryeon-dong, and will start accepting applications from the 19th. The selected tenants will be announced on the 10th of next month.

The first priority for residency is young people, local students, and newlyweds; the second priority is recipients of basic livelihood security, lower-income groups, and single-parent families. The third priority is general residents who have lived continuously in Yeonsu-gu for more than two years.

According to the "Special Act on the Maintenance of Vacant Houses and Small-scale Housing," the district completed a vacant house survey in 2019 and plans to renovate 31 vacant houses in the old downtown area by 2024, securing a total budget of 380 million KRW matched 50:50 with Incheon City.

Last year, the district demolished an abandoned house at 560-7 Okryeon-dong and converted the site into a public parking lot, receiving positive feedback from residents. Through this project, the district plans to provide affordable housing to residents while improving the residential environment.

Gonam-seok, Mayor of Yeonsu-gu, said, "I hope this project will help residents who are economically struggling to secure housing," adding, "Furthermore, by renovating abandoned vacant houses in the old downtown area, we expect positive outcomes such as crime prevention and improvement of the residential environment."

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