No Discrimination in Public Housing... Seoul City Implements Public Housing Building and Unit Number Public Lottery System

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will fully implement a public lottery system to eliminate discriminatory factors in public housing and expand the supply of medium-sized public housing units, which were previously focused on small units.

On the 23rd, Seoul announced the 'Four Core Tasks to Strengthen Housing Welfare,' centered on these measures.

First, the city has formed a 'Public Housing Preliminary Review Task Force (TF)' to eliminate discrimination between public housing and sale units in new apartment complexes, operating since October last year. The Preliminary Review TF proposes improvements to ensure no discriminatory elements from the early planning stages of redevelopment projects and rechecks whether these improvements are reflected before architectural review. To this end, a 21-item preliminary review checklist was created. Based on this checklist, the TF focuses on whether public housing units are placed in leftover units after sales or in separate buildings within the complex, or if the use of shared facilities is restricted for public housing residents.

The Preliminary Review TF also upgrades the quality of public housing. It reviewed about 7,500 public housing units planned in 50 complexes and converted 3,700 units, which were concentrated in small sizes, into units of 59㎡ or larger. The city explained that this diversification of unit sizes is to counter the perception that public housing equals small units and to better suit each complex.

The public lottery system for building and unit numbers will also be fully implemented. This system allows both sale and public housing units to participate simultaneously in the lottery for all building and unit numbers, eliminating the practice of assigning public housing units only after sale units are allocated. Although the city has applied guidelines since September 2020, from now on, sale and public housing households will participate equally and simultaneously in the public lottery, and the results will be reflected in the project implementation plan, which the city will review as a condition for full implementation.

The reconstruction of aging public housing will also accelerate. Starting with 'Hagye 5 Complex,' the first permanent rental apartment complex in Korea, 34 public housing complexes (40,000 units) over 30 years old will be reconstructed by 2040. Additionally, systematic remodeling will be promoted for 80 mixed complexes of sale and public housing that are over 20 years old. The city will participate as a member of the association for the remodeling project of the mixed complex 'Mapo Taeyoung Apartment' for the first time, supporting the elimination of facility disparities between sale and public housing.

Support projects for housing stability for youth and newlyweds will be expanded and strengthened. The youth monthly rent support project will expand its target to 46,000 people this year, in parallel with the government's temporary project, an increase of about 20,000 from last year. Support for housing costs for vulnerable groups, such as 'housing benefits' and 'Seoul-type housing vouchers,' will also be expanded. The eligibility for housing benefits will be extended from 45% to 46% of median income, and the Seoul-type housing voucher will provide an additional 5,000 KRW per person depending on the number of household members.

Furthermore, through the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation), the city will establish a tentatively named 'Housing Safety Comprehensive Center' in all 25 autonomous districts by 2024 to provide one-stop services related to housing, from home repairs to youth rent applications and emergency housing support. Residents of small-scale public housing with fewer than 150 units, which have been managed autonomously by residents, will also be able to receive professional housing management services such as cleaning and parking through the center. The city plans to conduct a pilot project targeting 5,700 units this year and fully implement it from next year.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "It is natural for everyone to want to live in a good home. Public housing must also be supplied with quality," adding, "We must achieve social mix so that those living in public housing are free from social prejudice and do not feel any deprivation regarding their housing."