[Policy Pulse] Housing, Care, and Local Government

Public rental housing is the most direct and essential means of housing welfare. However, simply ensuring an adequate supply of public rental housing does not automatically guarantee the realization of housing welfare. In many long-term rental housing complexes, the proportion of residents who are elderly or in need of care services exceeds 60%, and this number continues to rise. Yet, there is still no clear answer as to who should be responsible for providing support services to residents or how the costs should be covered.

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Since March 2026, the “Act on Integrated Support for Community Care Including Medical and Nursing Services” has been in effect, establishing a legal basis for people in need of care to continue receiving integrated care support where they live. In order to provide integrated support for healthcare, welfare, nursing care, and housing services, appropriate housing must first be made available for people who need care. However, in this law, the housing-related provisions are limited to improving the residential environment, and there are no concrete regulations on who will supply suitable housing or how it will be provided.

Efforts to design and offer integrated, customized housing and care services have been ongoing for many years. In 2018, the Ministry of Health and Welfare established the Basic Plan for Community Integrated Care and developed the “Care Safe Housing” brand, which links community-integrated care with public rental housing. Although the ministry set a goal of supplying 40,000 units, the lack of a legal foundation to support this meant the policy did not deliver tangible results.

Attempts to combine services around housing have also failed to yield significant results. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been providing public rental housing equipped with social welfare facilities for the elderly, known as “Welfare Housing for the Elderly,” in order to promote residential stability for seniors. However, there are still structural limitations due to reliance on local governments’ participation and support. The private sector, too, has continued to develop housing products combined with care services, but an organic integration between the two sectors has not been achieved. Housing for the elderly, as defined under the “Welfare of the Aged Act,” has been classified as a facility rather than a residence, causing various issues in the sales and operation processes, ultimately leading to the discontinuation of the sales-based model. Special legislative bills regarding housing for elderly care, the creation and operation of retirement villages, and the promotion of senior residences have all failed to pass the legislative threshold.

Today, housing and social services are increasingly being provided in an integrated, community-based manner, and the principle that “residents continue to live where they have always lived (Aging in Place)” has become international common sense. In Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare jointly operate the Act on Securement of Stable Housing for the Elderly, and have established an integrated supply system-including the private sector-through “Service-Linked Senior Housing.” In the United Kingdom, the Care Act, and in Denmark, the Social Services Act, both address housing and care within a unified policy framework.

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So, why has Korea’s integrated support system for community care failed to fully unify housing and care? The core issue lies in the fragmented operation of housing and care under different institutional and funding systems. Most fundamentally, housing is managed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, while care services are managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. This siloed structure between ministries has been the root limitation.

Ultimately, the key to a solution lies with local governments. Cooperation and coordination between ministries at the central government level is essential. At the same time, local governments must be empowered to proactively combine the resources of both the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, so that integrated services can be designed at the local level. To achieve this, authority to establish integrated plans, comprehensive financial support, and the establishment of dedicated organizations must all be ensured. Genuine integration of care and housing begins with breaking down the silos between central ministries and restructuring governance around local communities.

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Byun Changheum, Professor of Public Administration at Sejong University (former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)

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