Human Rights Commission: "LH Partially Accepts Recommendation to Improve Accessibility for Disabled in National Rental Housing"

Notice on Prospective Residents Recruitment Does Not Accept Accessibility for Disabled Persons

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced on the 23rd that the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) partially rejected recommendations to provide convenience facilities for disabled residents of public rental housing.

According to the NHRCK, the complainant filed a petition stating that in February 2019, they agreed to move into public rental housing and requested LH to install convenience facilities for the disabled, such as eliminating level differences in the bathroom to allow wheelchair use and installing height-adjustable washbasins inside the residence, but were refused.

In response, in April last year, the NHRCK recommended to the LH president that when disabled residents, including the complainant, request essential convenience facilities such as bathroom and kitchen facilities necessary for residential life, these should be provided to ensure that disabled persons are not excluded from moving in or using the housing. The NHRCK also recommended that the recruitment announcements for prospective public rental housing residents include prior information on accessibility for the disabled for each housing unit.

LH responded to the NHRCK’s recommendation by stating, "Since we sufficiently notified and informed that convenience facilities could not be installed at the time of move-in, it is fundamentally difficult to accept the NHRCK’s recommendations. However, for the complainant’s residence only, we will do our best to carry out repairs within the scope possible to alleviate inconvenience." The NHRCK judged that since the original intent of the recommendation was to provide convenience to all disabled residents moving into public rental housing, it is difficult to see that LH fully accepted the recommendation, but considering LH’s efforts to remedy the complainant’s rights, it was deemed a 'partial acceptance.'

Regarding the recommendation to provide prior information on accessibility for the disabled during the recruitment of prospective residents, LH replied, "Since December 28, 2018, according to the 'Revised Implementation Guidelines for Public Rental Housing Supply Operations' (4th revision), we have already specified in the recruitment announcements whether bathrooms in each complex are unsuitable for installing convenience facilities for the disabled." However, the NHRCK confirmed on May 6 of this year that some recruitment announcements did not comply with the revised guidelines and, in some cases, did not provide any information related to applications for convenience facilities for the disabled, citing that the complexes were already completed and occupied. Therefore, the NHRCK judged that LH 'rejected' this recommendation.

The NHRCK explained the background for announcing the non-acceptance of the recommendation by stating, "It is necessary for LH to make active efforts, such as preparing improvement measures, to ensure that disabled persons’ housing rights are guaranteed equally with non-disabled persons in the use of public housing."

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