Won Hee-ryong "Expansion of Urban Youth Public Rental Housing... Strengthening Financial Support"

Won Hee-ryong, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said on the 29th, "We will sufficiently provide customized public rental housing with various facilities in excellent locations within urban areas that young people desire, and also strengthen financial support for asset formation and home ownership."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the same day, Minister Won visited 'Arts Stay,' a youth-specialized purchased rental housing located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, met with residents to hear their suggestions, and stated, "Putting aside young people's home ownership, they must be given a secure living space where they can live with peace of mind immediately."

Arts Stay, which Minister Won visited that day, is a specialized purchased rental housing supplied for youth, artists, and entrepreneurs by remodeling a building that was previously a lodging facility. Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) purchased it with an investment of 12.7 billion KRW, and the social enterprise Antenna, entrusted by LH, operates it. Despite its excellent location, the rent is about half of the surrounding area, ranging from 370,000 to 470,000 KRW per month (with a separate deposit of 1 million KRW), and when it opened in 2021, the competition rate for moving in was 8 to 1. Currently, 51 young people including university students, entrepreneurs, and artists reside there.

After touring shared facilities such as the laundry room and meeting room, Minister Won met with the current residents to listen to the difficulties they face while living there. The residents suggested extending the residency period since housing costs are not insignificant, increasing supply in well-located urban areas, and strengthening public housing policy promotion to prepare for the period after the rental term ends.

Regarding this, Minister Won stated that sufficient public rental housing will be provided in urban areas, and ordered the officials present to look for ways such as increasing floor area ratio. LH President Lee Han-jun said, "In the past, the focus was on the quantity of supply, but now it is important to supply in the form and location desired by the demanders," adding, "We will focus more on quality than quantity."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also announced that the rental period for specialized youth housing has been extended from the previous maximum of 6 years to a maximum of 10 years, and said it will consider ways to reduce management fees to ease the burden on young people. Besides Arts Stay, LH operates a total of three specialized youth housing facilities in Seoul, including Anam Saenghwal (122 units) and Nodeul Changjakteo (13 units), and plans to open youth housing in Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu, and Beon-dong, Gangbuk-gu in cooperation with Antenna.