Seoul City Eases 'Cheongnyeon Wolse' Support Criteria... Monthly Income Up to 2.74 Million Won

Online Applications Open on the 10th of Next Month... Recruiting 22,000 People

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Seoul City's 'Youth Monthly Rent' support criteria will be raised to a monthly income of 2.74 million KRW or less.

Seoul City announced on the 26th that it will ease the income criteria for the 'Youth Monthly Rent' program, which supports single-person youth households with up to 200,000 KRW per month for a maximum of 10 months, and apply it from the recruitment in the second half of this year.

This is the result of relaxing the income criteria for support from the original 120% of the median income to 150% or less. In this case, the eligible applicants will expand from a monthly income of 2.193 million KRW (before tax) to 2.742 million KRW. Seoul City said, "This will expand opportunities for working youth who were unable to receive Youth Monthly Rent support due to income requirements, such as short-term workers, young employees working at small and medium-sized enterprises, and workers whose wages temporarily increased due to overtime work."

However, Seoul City divided the selection into four sections based on income criteria, rental deposit, and monthly rent to allocate more opportunities to youth in more difficult situations.

The recruitment for the second half of this year will be accepted on the Seoul Housing Portal from 10:00 AM on the 10th of next month until 6:00 PM on the 19th. A total of 22,000 people will be selected, with 68% (15,000 people) allocated to the lower rent section. The support results are expected to be announced in October.

Eligibility requirements include being a single-person youth household aged 19 to 39 who is registered as a resident in Seoul and actually resides there as of the application date. Youth siblings or cohabitants registered on the resident registration are also included. Simultaneous applications are possible if living together in a share house, etc., and having individual lease contracts with the landlord.

Residence requirements specify that applicants must be non-homeowners living in buildings with a rental deposit of 50 million KRW or less and monthly rent of 600,000 KRW or less. Applicants with monthly rent exceeding 600,000 KRW can apply if the sum of the rental deposit monthly repayment amount and monthly rent is 700,000 KRW or less. However, applications are not allowed if the lease contract is made under the name of parents, siblings, friends, etc. Homeowners, holders of pre-sale rights, those with total assets exceeding 100 million KRW, and owners of vehicles valued at 25 million KRW or more are also excluded.

Detailed support criteria and required documents can be found in the application recruitment announcement on the Seoul Housing Portal on the 27th.

Kim Seongbo, Director of Seoul City's Housing Policy Office, said, "Seoul City has eased the income criteria to lower the participation barrier for youth who actively work, such as young employees and short-term workers, so that Youth Monthly Rent support can serve as a housing welfare ladder." He added, "Especially this year, as the number of eligible applicants expands significantly, we hope this will be a practical help in resolving policy demands and improving the housing living standards of single-person youth households suffering from high housing costs."