Expansion of 2 Million Public Rental Homes by Next Year... Strengthening Housing Stability for Homeless Low-Income Citizens

Long-term Public Rental Housing Inventory Trends (Data provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 1st that since the release of the 'Housing Welfare Roadmap' in November 2017 to stabilize housing for low-income households without homes, the stock of long-term public rental housing has increased to about 1.7 million units. The stock ratio, which is the proportion of public rental housing in the total number of houses in the country, is estimated to be around 8%.

According to the Ministry, the government has steadily increased the budget for public rental housing since 2018 to expand the supply of public rental housing. Next year, the budget for public rental housing has been confirmed at 22.8 trillion won in the government proposal. Public rental housing has increased by 26%, from 1.35 million units in 2017 to 1.7 million units currently. This level can accommodate more than 20% of the 7.31 million households of non-homeowning tenants.

Starting next year, the complexly divided public rental housing types such as permanent rental (introduced in 1989), national rental (introduced in 1998), and Happy Housing (introduced in 2013) will be integrated into 'Integrated Public Rental Housing.' The eligibility criteria for tenants will be expanded from the current median income of 130% to 150% (180% for dual-income households), and rent, which is cheaper than the surrounding market price, will be charged differently according to the tenant's income.

Also, medium-sized housing with an exclusive area of 60 to 85㎡, preferred by 3-4 person households, will be introduced, and the quality of major finishing materials will be raised to the level of sale housing. The number of medium-sized houses will increase from 1,000 units this year to 6,000 units next year, 10,000 units in 2023, 15,000 units in 2024, and about 20,000 units after 2025.

Within the complexes, living SOC such as national and public daycare centers and living culture centers suitable for local conditions will be installed. Kim Hongmok, Director of Housing Welfare Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We will expand the stock of public rental housing to 2 million units by next year to raise it to the top level among OECD countries," and added, "We will devote efforts so that public rental housing can lead a new housing culture through innovative improvements such as introducing various housing sizes and expanding tenant eligibility."

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