What’s the Point of Winning When There’s No House to Live In? LH Jeonse Rental Housing’s Actual Occupancy Rate at Half Over 5 Years

Youth and Newlywed Jeonse Lease, Actual Move-in Rates Averaging 55.5% and 53.5% Over 5 Years
Rising Jeonse Prices Make Deposit Support Insufficient...Verification Process Also Stringent
Kim Byung-wook "Need to Realize Jeonse Support Funds and Prepare Incentives for Landlords"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) is conducting a housing support project called 'Jeonse Rental Housing' to alleviate the rent burden for youth and newlyweds. However, the actual occupancy rate compared to the number of winners remains in the 50% range, raising questions about its effectiveness.

Kim Byung-wook, Head of the Functional Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Korea's Presidential Campaign Committee. / Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

According to data on the 'Jeonse Rental Housing Winners and Actual Occupants Status' submitted by LH to Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, over the past five years (2017?2021), the average actual occupancy rate compared to the selected youth and newlywed Jeonse rental winners by LH was only 55.5% and 53.5%, respectively.

For youth Jeonse rental, the actual occupancy rates were 50.03% in 2017, 60.13% in 2018, 53.62% in 2019, 64.60% in 2020, and 51.48% in 2021.

Newlywed Jeonse rental also showed yearly differences with 56.67% in 2017, 59.28% in 2018, 68.70% in 2019, 42.04% in 2020, and 54.28% in 2021, but overall remained in the 50% range.

According to LH, the LH Jeonse rental system is a program where youth and newlyweds who meet certain conditions find a house, and LH signs a Jeonse contract with the landlord and subleases it at a lower price. The tenant searches for a house directly, and LH reviews the house and supports the Jeonse deposit through a process.

However, the problem is that finding a suitable rental property is not easy.

In the case of youth Jeonse rental, a maximum Jeonse deposit of 120 million KRW is supported for housing under 60㎡ for single occupancy in the metropolitan area. However, as Jeonse prices in the metropolitan area have risen significantly, it is difficult to find properties within that price range. Additionally, if a house is not found within six months of the housing search period, the selection of the candidate becomes invalid.

The contract process is also more complicated and demanding than general Jeonse contracts. Many landlords feel burdened by the exposure of information during the rights analysis process related to the contract. Since there are no better benefits than general contracts and the burden only increases, landlords have no reason to willingly choose the Jeonse rental system.

Last year, the number of youth Jeonse rental winners was 29,817, more than double the 14,078 in 2017 over five years. Newlywed Jeonse rental winners also increased nearly threefold from 6,267 in 2017 to 18,360 in 2021. Although the scale of the project has grown, the problems inherent in the system have not been improved, and the actual occupancy rate has consistently hovered around the 50% range.

Furthermore, among the 105,031 youth Jeonse rental occupants over the past five years, those in their 20s accounted for 77,567 (73.8%), those aged 30 and above were 15,238 (14.5%), and teenagers accounted for 12,226 (11.6%). Among the newlywed Jeonse rental winners over the past five years, 346 teenagers were also included.

Assemblyman Kim said, "In the reality where it is difficult to find appropriate Jeonse rental housing, leaving the housing search process solely to the tenants only increases the burden on youth and newlyweds," and added, "It is necessary to identify the practical problems of the Jeonse rental system so that both tenants and landlords can be satisfied."

He emphasized, "We must devise practical solutions that can attract landlords, such as adjusting support funds to match market prices, improving the efficiency of screening procedures, and expanding tax benefits."

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