[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 23rd that it will expand the loan limit and relax the application criteria for the 'Youth Lease Deposit Interest Support' program. This improvement aims to help young people who face difficulties in saving a large sum of money and live in poor housing conditions to receive support benefits.
The biggest change in this improvement is the expansion of the loan limit, which will be increased up to 70 million KRW within 90% of the deposit. This is about three times the existing loan limit of 25 million KRW. For the borrower's interest burden, with Seoul City's support of 2% per annum, the interest rate will be fixed at around 1% per annum.
The eligibility criteria for applying to the program will be relaxed. The previous upper limit for the applicant's annual income was raised from 30 million KRW to 40 million KRW. Additionally, for young people currently employed or with work experience, the previous 5-year employment period requirement has been removed, allowing all to apply regardless of employment duration. For non-working youths such as job seekers and university (graduate) students, the parental annual income criterion has been relaxed from 60 million KRW or less to 70 million KRW or less.
The safety of the application process is strengthened. Due to the nature of the deposit loan, applicants apply for the loan after signing the lease contract, bearing the risk that the contract may be canceled if the loan screening is rejected. Seoul City explained, "In this improvement, before applying for the loan, applicants can check their loan eligibility and loan amount through branch consultations and the bank's application, minimizing the risk of screening rejection."
The application process is further simplified. After qualification screening such as age and income on the Seoul Housing Portal and receiving a recommendation letter from Seoul City, applicants can immediately obtain a loan through a Hana Bank branch or the Hana Bank app after signing the housing contract. Through cooperation with Hana Bank, from application to loan eligibility confirmation and loan screening, everything can be done online, greatly enhancing convenience during application.
This improved Youth Lease Deposit Interest Support program will be officially implemented from the 25th. Young people wishing to apply for the program can submit applications anytime through the Seoul Housing Portal website, and related consultations are available at the ‘Seoul Housing Welfare Center’ and ‘Seoul Dasan Call Center 120.’
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