President Lee Seong-hun of the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) said on the 8th that he plans to supply 20,000 purchased rental dwellings in downtown Seoul over the next three years for young people and newlyweds. That is on par with the supply scale of the Bucheon Daejang district.
On this day, at a newly built purchased youth dwelling in Jongno District, Seoul, Lee held an on-site roundtable to address youth housing issues and announced a plan to supply 20,000 units, including 15,000 youth rental dwellings and 3,400 purchased rental dwellings for newlyweds.
Lee said, "Newly built purchased rental dwellings can be delivered within one to two years from site identification to move-in, making them the key card that can stabilize the jeonse and monthly rent market the fastest," adding, "We will work to supply more good homes, faster, in the locations young people want."
Purchased rental dwellings are a program in which LH buys existing dwellings in the city or agrees to purchase newly built dwellings before completion, then leases them to young people and newlyweds. In particular, demand among young people in Seoul for purchased rental dwellings is strong. Last year, the average subscription competition rate for purchased youth rental dwellings in Seoul was 130 to 1, surpassing the national average of 50 to 1 by more than double.
LH is expanding support for developers of newly built purchases to increase acquisition volume in downtown Seoul. It has introduced a method of supporting land purchase funds at the early stage and paying the purchase price in installments according to project progress. It also plans to secure prime locations by giving extra points in evaluations to projects in areas with high youth housing demand, such as around university districts.
Meanwhile, the roundtable was arranged to hear directly from young people on-site to solve youth housing problems and to discuss ways to quickly supply high-quality youth dwellings in the city center. About 20 people attended, including Lee; First Vice Minister Kim Ei-tak of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; National Assembly members Kim Nam-geun, Oh Ki-hyeong, and Lee Yong-seon; and young city council members.
In the panel discussion held at the roundtable, participants said that high rent burdens and a lack of supply in urban centers are the key factors behind youth housing instability. The young attendees proposed easing income criteria and other requirements from current levels to expand eligibility for purchased rental dwellings to include middle-class youth.