When Seoul City began recruiting tenants for villas and officetels that had been vacant for more than six months, more than 43,000 people rushed to apply. These are homes where residents can live for up to six years by paying a security deposit and monthly rent set at 30% to 70% of market rates. Tenants were sought for 95 complexes, with the average competition ratio topping 100 to 1, and more than 1,700 applicants vying for a single unit at some complexes.
On Apr. 7, according to Seoul City and the Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH), 43,062 people applied for the tenant recruitment subscription for long-vacant purchased rental dwellings that began in February. Long-vacant purchased rental dwellings are purchased rental dwellings left empty for more than six months that are pooled together, with relaxed eligibility compared to existing purchased rentals, to recruit tenants. This round is recruiting tenants for 261 units across 95 complexes. All are dwellings with exclusive areas of 85 square meters or less, with officetels and villas making up the majority. With security deposits and rents below market rates, tenants sign an initial two-year contract and can renew twice more, allowing them to live there for up to six years.
To qualify for first-priority tenant status, monthly income must be at or below 130% of the average monthly income of urban workers. For a three-person household, that means a monthly income at or below 10.61 million won. Compared with public rental dwelling eligibility, which generally limits applicants to low-income households at around 70% of the average monthly income of urban workers, the eligibility has been relaxed. An SH official said, "Because the rental conditions are more relaxed than existing purchased rental dwellings, this subscription is highly competitive."
Long-vacant purchased rental dwellings accept applications twice a year, with tenant recruitment notices in February and August. In February 2024, when tenants were recruited for 205 units, there were 9,174 applicants. In two years, the number of applicants has more than quadrupled. A year earlier, in February 2025, the dwellings supplied numbered only 57 units, and there were 20,834 applicants.
As more applicants than expected poured in and ties occurred within the same priority group, SH selected 1,305 people as document review candidates through a random computerized draw and notified them. If applicants submit required documents such as a resident registration certificate from Apr. 8 to 10, the final tenant list will be released after review.
The most competitive site is "Daemyeong Alps Hill," located at 651-10 Deungchon-dong, Gangseo District. For one unit with an exclusive area of 47.92 square meters, 1,799 people applied. The deposit is 19.11 million won, and the monthly rent is 160,000 won. It is a six-minute walk (600 meters) in a straight line from Deungchon Station on Seoul Subway Line 9. Line 9 provides direct links to business districts such as Yeouido and Gangnam. "Gongneungvill," located at 362-28 Gongneung-dong, Nowon District, also drew 1,508 applicants for one unit with an exclusive area of 59.84 square meters. It is a villa in a transit-accessible area about 300 meters from Gongneung Station on Seoul Subway Line 7.
The decline in rental supply in the non-apartment market due to the impact of jeonse fraud is also seen as a factor behind the popularity of Seoul City's long-vacant purchased rental dwellings. With few villas and officetels available for ordinary people to move into, the city offered rentals at low prices.
Seong Chang-yeop, head of the Korea Rental Housing Association, said, "Since the jeonse fraud, there have been almost no tenants willing to sign jeonse contracts through pre-sales when building non-apartments such as villas, and because developers cannot receive sales proceeds, they cannot build new buildings, causing a sharp drop in non-apartment rental supply," adding, "In this situation, as Seoul City supplies rental dwellings cheaper than market rates, applicants see them as 'lottery rentals' and are flocking to apply."
Kim In-man, head of the Kim In-man Real Estate Economics Research Institute, also said, "After the jeonse fraud, the non-apartment market has fallen into a moribund state, and new construction supply has shrunk to a tenth," adding, "Demand is bound to concentrate on low-cost public rentals."