Conflicts are growing between tenants and the Seoul Housing and Urban Development Corporation (SH) as the maximum 20-year residency period nears expiration at long-term jeonse dwellings such as Songpa Pine Town in Seoul.
According to the industry on the 20th, the Songpa Pine Town chapter of the Seoul public rental housing tenants' rights advancement committee held a briefing on the 11th and demanded contract extensions and a phased conversion to sales.
Some residents argue that, based on the Special Act on Public Housing and its enforcement decree, after 10 years—half of the 20-year mandatory rental period—they can convert to sales by agreement with SH, and after 20 years SH must sell to existing tenants.
However, legal experts say long-term jeonse is legally distinct from public rentals premised on conversion to sales, and there are no provisions granting tenants a right to demand conversion to sales or a right of first refusal, making such claims difficult to accept.
◇ "Agreement-based sales after 10 years" is hard to apply to long-term jeonse
The crux is that the enforcement decree limits the targets eligible for agreement-based sales after half the mandatory rental period to "public rental dwellings convertible to sales." Long-term jeonse refers to dwellings supplied for an extended period under a jeonse contract, while public rentals convertible to sales are a separate type supplied with the aim of transferring ownership to occupants after a set rental period.
Attorney Kim Myeong-jong of Lee & Ko said, "Public rental dwellings convertible to sales and long-term jeonse dwellings are distinguished by law, so long-term jeonse is interpreted as not subject to those provisions." He explained that for conversion-type rentals, the timing of conversion, eligibility requirements, and price calculation standards are presented in advance in the recruitment notice and contract, whereas long-term jeonse is a system designed to keep dwellings as public rentals for an extended period.
The Ministry of Government Legislation also interpreted in Dec. 2025 that long-term jeonse dwellings are not included among those eligible for early conversion to sales by agreement after half the mandatory rental period has passed. The reason is that there is no provision requiring notification at the recruitment stage of the timing or price standards for conversion to sales. While the ministry's interpretation is not a court ruling that binds the judiciary, it is meaningful as the official interpretation of the executive branch that enforces current laws and regulations.
◇ "Agreement possible" does not mean tenants have a claim
Even if the possibility of conversion to sales is discussed, analysts say it is hard to view the "agreement" specified in law as a right tenants can exercise unilaterally. Attorney Woo Hyeon-su of Law Firm Barun said, "A right to demand conversion to sales is a right that one party can exercise alone, but an agreement is formed only when the intentions of the operator and the tenant align," adding, "The agreement provision cannot be interpreted as a right to demand conversion to sales."
That the restriction on SH's sale disappears after 20 years and that existing tenants obtain a right of first refusal are also separate issues. The law only restricts SH from disposing of dwellings before the mandatory rental period, and does not require it to sell to existing tenants after the period ends. SH can continue to hold the dwellings as public rentals or resupply them to new tenants.
Therefore, the claims that "SH can dispose of the dwellings," "it can sell to existing tenants," and "it must sell first to existing tenants" should be distinguished. For an obligation to offer first sale to be recognized, a separate legal, local government ordinance, or contractual basis is required.
◇ No promise of conversion to sales in the contracts
Attorney Lee Kang-hun of Law Firm Deoksu reviewed the relevant statutes and the Seoul local government ordinance and said, "There is no legal or contractual right stipulated for general long-term jeonse tenants to demand conversion to sales."
However, if the initial tenant recruitment notice or the lease agreement specifically promised conversion to sales or contract extension after 20 years, the judgment could be different. But an SH official said there were no conversion-to-sales clauses in the recruitment notices and contracts for the long-term jeonse complexes at the center of the controversy.
In the end, experts commonly conclude that the "right to demand conversion to sales after 10 years of residence," claimed by some tenants, is hard to recognize based solely on current laws and the confirmed contract terms. Separately from whether such a legal right exists, how to reduce the relocation burden on tenants—who, including older adults and low-income households, have lived nearly 20 years in one dwelling—remains a housing policy task for the Seoul city government and SH.