Small-Scale Public Rentals Focused, Diversification of Types and Sizes

Assemblyman Somyeonghun Proposes Amendment to 'Public Housing Special Act'... Consideration from Planning Stage

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] A bill to diversify the types and sizes of public rental housing, which are mainly small-sized, has been proposed.

On the 26th, according to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Assemblyman So Byung-hoon of the Democratic Party of Korea officially proposed a partial amendment to the "Special Act on Public Housing" on the 25th. The amendment aims to improve the quality of public housing and supply that meets housing demand. The key point is to include not only matters related to the supply of public housing by region and demand group but also matters related to the supply by type and size of public housing when establishing the public housing supply and management plan.

The current law stipulates that the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must establish a comprehensive housing plan every 10 years and a public housing supply and management plan every 5 years according to the "Housing Act," but the public housing supply and management plan does not include matters related to supply by type and size. Because of this, there is a significant disparity in the types and sizes of public rental housing by region.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's rental housing statistics in 2019, among 1,660,128 public rental housing units in South Korea, 655,856 units (39.5%) are 40㎡ (exclusive area) or less, and 545,909 units (32.9%) are between 40㎡ and 60㎡, making 72.4% of the total small-sized housing. Units between 60㎡ and 85㎡ account for 172,560 units (10.4%), and units over 85㎡ are only 20,156 units (1.2%). This contrasts with Japan, where 29.9% of all public rental housing units are between 60㎡ and 90㎡, and 44.3% are between 40㎡ and 60㎡.

The National Assembly Legislative Research Office also pointed out in its report "Analysis of Public Rental Housing Supply Trends and Policy Tasks," released in December last year, that when small-sized public rental housing is densely supplied, negative perceptions of public rental housing may spread, and cramped living spaces can cause inconvenience to residents of public rental housing.

Assemblyman So said, "To improve the negative perception of public rental housing by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, it is necessary to move away from the uniform supply of small-sized public rental housing and supply various types and sizes of public rental housing," and emphasized, "The Special Act on Public Housing must be amended so that the public housing supply and management plan can reflect the supply of public housing by type and size for the people."