[Reporter’s Notebook] Is There No Country for the Homeless?

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] "It's a world where you become a fool if you don't have a house." This was the remark made by Kim (45), a tenant of an apartment in Mapo-gu, Seoul, whom I recently met during reporting. Kim, who works alongside his wife and has two children, has been living in the current apartment for four years. The deposit, which was 380 million won at the time of moving in, was raised to 500 million won during the renewal two years ago.

Apartment complex in downtown Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

At that time, the landlord said the price was about 20 million won cheaper than the surrounding jeonse market price and demanded an increase of 120 million won in the deposit as if to show off. Kim pleaded to lower it a bit due to the heavy burden, but the response was only, "If it's difficult, look for another house." Kim, whose child had just entered middle school and who was worried about his ailing elderly mother living nearby, barely managed to secure the jeonse deposit by taking out a loan from a secondary financial institution.

Two years later, just before the jeonse contract expiration in April, the landlord contacted him. The landlord said that since his money was tied up in other investments, it would be better to extend the contract as is. He also generously offered to fix any inconveniences. However, despite the surrounding jeonse prices dropping, there was no talk of lowering the price.

Listening to the landlord, Kim said he felt anger rising not toward the landlord but toward himself. When the jeonse price rises, tenants are told to leave if they can't pay, and when the price falls, tenants have to hope for leniency from landlords to lower the price. He felt pitiful, as if he were guilty for not owning a house.

Eventually, after much deliberation, Kim decided not to renew the contract. He also resolved to buy his own home even if it meant moving to another area this time. Kim said, "The world is forcing us to buy houses," and argued, "If the real estate market revives, tenants will again worry about jeonse price increases, and if prices fall, they become victims of social systems like 'empty jeonse'."

Kim is not alone. Every time real estate prices fall, problems such as jeonse fraud and reverse jeonse crises occur, and the damage repeatedly falls on tenants. The jeonse system itself is unfair to tenants. Nevertheless, there are still almost no stable policies regarding the jeonse system.

Recently, the government announced deregulation policies to bring multi-homeowners into the market for real estate market stabilization. Given the severe transaction stagnation in the real estate market, this is understandable, but such policies are likely to shake the jeonse market later. For multi-homeowners to enter the real estate market, gap investment is a prerequisite, which inevitably shifts the burden onto tenants.

The words I heard while talking with Kim, "Our country's real estate market is a world where landlords have the upper hand, and socially, those without houses become the weak," linger in my ears. I hope policies that can restore trust in the broken real estate market felt by the majority of house-less tenants will emerge.

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