The government will expand the supply of public rental housing for young people, newlyweds, and older adults. With the launch of the call for proposals for "customized specialized dwellings" that provide living space along with care, jobs, and welfare services, people will be able to choose a living environment that fits their lives.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 22nd that, to supply rental housing tailored to specific demand groups such as young people, older adults, and households with children, it will accept applications for the specialized dwellings call for proposals from public housing operators such as local governments and local public corporations from the 23rd of this month to May 22.
Specialized dwellings are public rental dwellings that supply living space together with user-tailored specialized facilities and housing services such as social welfare facilities, care spaces, and shared offices. Projects selected in the call can supply specialized dwellings suited to local conditions through fiscal support such as disbursements and loan from the housing & urban fund.
Starting this year, construction cost support will be newly introduced for specialized facilities within youth specialized dwellings and for specialized facilities installed in the child care–friendly platform (regional proposal–type specialized dwellings).
The types of call-for-proposal projects are four: ▲ regional proposal–type specialized dwellings ▲ older adult welfare dwellings ▲ youth specialized dwellings ▲ job-linked supportive dwellings.
The regional proposal–type specialized dwellings category was introduced starting with the call in the second half of 2024, allowing project implementers such as local governments to set, in a customized way, eligibility, selection methods, and occupancy periods in line with local demand such as encouraging childbirth and return-to-farming/return-to-rural areas. It allows region-customized design and reflection of resident demand, facilitates linkage with central and local government policies, and can contribute to revitalizing local communities.
Older adult welfare dwellings are rental dwellings that provide housing and welfare services simultaneously by creating dwellings equipped with convenience facilities for vulnerable residents, such as sliding bathroom doors and safety grab bars, together with social welfare facilities, and adults 65 and older without a home can move in. They are equipped with health support and leisure support facilities such as senior cafeterias, health counseling rooms, and liberal education classrooms.
Youth specialized dwellings are rental dwellings that provide living space and specialized services reflecting unit sizes preferred by young people and built-in furniture at prime locations such as transit hubs in city centers to stabilize housing for the young generation. They are for unmarried young people and university students.
Job-linked supportive dwellings are rental dwellings that provide specialized facilities such as shared offices and startup centers to help reduce housing costs for workers at small and midsize enterprises. Eligible tenants include entrepreneurs, SME workers, and industrial complex workers.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) plans to announce candidate sites for specialized dwellings at the end of June after reviewing proposals, conducting on-site inspections of proposed projects, and holding proposal presentations and a review by the evaluation committee.
Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) will also hold a recruitment call on Apr. 3 for "specialized purchase-type rental dwellings" that provide tenant demand–tailored housing services. Specialized purchase-type rental dwellings are rental dwellings in which the private sector, including social economy entities, proposes spaces and services tailored to tenant characteristics, the public sector purchases them, and then supplies them at prices lower than market rates.
LH has formed and is operating a specialized dwellings project task force (TF) to promote efficient operations and speedy supply of dwellings in the specialized purchase-type rental project, and plans to expand the organization.
Lee Ki-bong, housing welfare policy director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Specialized dwellings can supply customized dwellings suited to regional demand and conditions, and, with facilities and services that reflect the characteristics of each demand group such as young people, households with children, and older adults, they have the advantage of high resident satisfaction. We ask for active participation and cooperation from public housing operators such as local governments."