Over 500,000 Rental Business Operators Subject to Automatic Deregistration

On the 14th, Song Seok-jun, a member of the People Power Party, along with members of the Real Estate Special Committee and the Korea Housing Landlord Association, held a "Press Conference Condemning the Suppression of Registered Housing Rental Business Operators" on the steps in front of the main building of the National Assembly. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] It has been revealed that the number of registered rental housing units subject to automatic cancellation after the July 10 measures last year has exceeded 500,000 households. Recently, as the ruling party has targeted rental business operators as the cause of soaring housing prices, the number of rental housing units, estimated to be around one million households, is expected to decrease further. Rental business operators are expressing opposition, saying that the government's policy reversals are only adding confusion to the market.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Park Sang-hyuk, a member of the Democratic Party, on the 17th, the total number of registered rental housing units subject to automatic cancellation since August last year reached 500,708 units as of last month. Earlier, as a follow-up measure to the July 10 plan, the government implemented an amendment to the Private Rental Housing Special Act on August last year, abolishing the apartment purchase rental types of 4-year short-term rental and 8-year long-term rental.

Among the housing units subject to cancellation, apartments accounted for 116,048 units, and non-apartments such as villas accounted for 384,660 units. The metropolitan area accounted for a total of 293,233 units (58.6%), with Seoul at 153,941 units, Gyeonggi Province at 116,617 units, and Incheon at 22,675 units. However, not all of these units have been officially deregistered yet. Actual cancellation results may differ depending on local government processing. During the same period, a total of 22,825 registered rental units were voluntarily canceled.

Although the government expected that rental business operators putting rental housing on the market would stabilize housing prices, the industry’s assessment is that there was no significant effect on the market when looking at housing price fluctuations afterward.

As of June last year, registered rental housing totaled 1,606,686 units nationwide, with Seoul having the most at 516,450 units, followed by Gyeonggi Province with 496,548 units, Busan with 144,889 units, and Incheon with 60,115 units. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated that "statistical adjustments are underway following the July 10 measures," so subsequent statistics are not available. However, the Korea Landlords Association stated, "Including additional forced cancellations and voluntary cancellations of rental housing up to April this year, the number of registered rental housing units is around one million households."

Currently, the ruling party is pointing to the registered rental system as a major cause of instability in the housing market following the April 7 by-election defeat and is considering abolishing the system or significantly reducing its benefits. In response, the association opposed this, saying, "It is absurd to mislead that rental business operators, who mostly manage multi-family, multi-unit, and residential officetel rental housing, are the main culprits of the current apartment price surge."

The association criticized, "The government is shifting the blame for the confusion in the real estate market and the rise in housing prices caused by its flawed policies onto rental business operators."

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