Housing Policy Overshadowed by High Inflation Management... Yoon: "Strict Punishment for Jeonse Fraud Hurting Ordinary People"

Discussion on relief measures including emergency loans for victims... Directive to expand public rental housing supply for vulnerable groups

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The government has decided to take strong action against jeonse fraud crimes that are hurting low-income citizens. President Yoon Suk-yeol stated, "Recently, jeonse fraud targeting the precious deposits of ordinary people has been rampant, making life even harder for struggling citizens," even using the term 'strict punishment for a single case.' President Yoon has instructed the establishment of a dedicated police task force for jeonse fraud along with relief measures such as the creation of emergency loans for victims of jeonse fraud.

The background for President Yoon’s focus on housing issues for ordinary citizens lies in the government's announcement of measures to stabilize the rental market last June. However, with rising interest rates increasing the burden of repaying jeonse loans and a rise in the conversion to monthly rent, the housing cost burden for non-homeowners is growing day by day. On the 20th, during the 3rd Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting, President Yoon told Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong, "Analyze the types of jeonse fraud in detail and coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to form a dedicated police task force to strongly crack down on jeonse fraud crimes."

He particularly emphasized, "Housing stability and housing welfare are the core of livelihood stability." President Yoon said, "The government will restore the broken ladder of housing opportunities and build a dense and reliable housing safety net," adding, "We will not only support vulnerable housing groups and ease the housing cost burden for ordinary citizens but also activate housing supply through the private market for fundamental real estate market stabilization."

The government’s detailed housing supply roadmap is scheduled to be unveiled next month, and it has already indicated a focus on supplying rental housing first. Efforts have begun to find new sites for rental housing supply. This is part of the renovation project for aging rental housing, aiming to resolve relocation issues for current tenants and to use the sites for rental housing in the mid to long term. A presidential office official explained, "The core of this announcement is to manage and supply rental housing first for the housing stability of ordinary citizens," adding, "Since the renovation of aging rental housing can improve aging conditions and secure additional units, detailed roadmaps will be developed by relevant ministries and agencies."

It has been confirmed that relevant ministries and agencies have selected ‘renovation of aging rental housing’ as the top priority to increase rental housing supply and have started discovering new sites. In Seoul alone, there are 34 complexes with 39,802 households concentrated, so relocation and transfer measures for voluntary relocation of existing residents must be established first.

Publicly owned underutilized sites are most frequently mentioned as new sites. Plans to utilize leftover land or buildings owned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul City, and government-affiliated agencies will be reviewed, and purchasing and utilizing privately owned sites are also included. An official who attended the Emergency Economic and Livelihood Meeting yesterday said, "Except for redevelopment, there is not much land available for general supply or rental housing construction, so the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul City, and affiliated agencies are all struggling to find land," adding, "Ultimately, purchasing land owned by the private sector to build rental housing will be inevitable."

The government plans to build rental housing on the secured sites to use as relocation complexes for rental residents, and after the renovation project for aging rental housing is completed, to use them as other rental housing. The existing aging rental housing will be significantly increased in the number of units through renovation, and expansion through remodeling is actually being discussed.

Regarding the amendment to the Housing Lease Protection Act (the three lease laws), President Yoon expressed, "It is time for social discussion on the amendment of the lease law to normalize the jeonse and monthly rent market," and said, "I hope the National Assembly will lead the public discussion. The government will actively participate in this discussion." In addition, he announced plans to ▲expand public rental housing supply for vulnerable groups ▲renovate aging permanent rental housing facilities ▲proactively identify rental housing support recipients and strengthen relocation support ▲freeze public rental housing rents for one year temporarily ▲expand housing benefits to 50% of median income to reduce housing costs for vulnerable groups.

The housing supply roadmap, which includes all general supply as well as rental housing, will be unveiled in mid-next month. It is the five-year housing supply blueprint of the Yoon administration, including timing, location, and types. The original pledge of supplying 2.5 million households has been supplemented with ‘+α,’ including 500,000 public rental units and 500,000 youth housing units. However, due to concerns about side effects such as speculation, it is unlikely that all specific locations will be disclosed.

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