Cheaper Than Market Price, Long-Term Residence 'Dundeun Jeonse Housing' Begins Tenant Recruitment

Sequential Move-in Starting August for Non-Apartment Properties in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Including Yeonlip, Multi-family, and Officetels

View of a villa neighborhood from a building in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

A new 'Dundeun Jeonse Housing' system allowing long-term residence at prices lower than the surrounding market rates will be introduced. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that starting from the 27th, tenant recruitment announcements will be made sequentially for approximately 3,400 homes already secured, mainly in Seoul and the metropolitan area.

Dundeun Jeonse Housing is a type of public rental housing where Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) and Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) purchase multi-family houses, row houses, officetels, etc., within the metropolitan area, allowing tenants to live for up to 8 years with a jeonse deposit at about 90% of the surrounding market price.

The Ministry plans to supply 25,000 Dundeun Jeonse Housing units over two years starting this year. LH’s Dundeun Jeonse Housing will purchase 15,000 newly built homes with exclusive areas of 60 to 85 square meters suitable for 3 to 4-person households, supplying 5,000 units this year and 10,000 units next year.

HUG’s Dundeun Jeonse Housing will purchase 10,000 homes by directly bidding on houses that have been auctioned after returning the jeonse deposit on behalf of the landlords. Plans include 35,000 units this year and 65,000 units next year.

Tenant recruitment announcements will be made sequentially for homes that have been purchased. LH secured 2,860 units by converting the remaining public jeonse housing stock, which was a temporary project from 2021 to 2022, into Dundeun Jeonse Housing. Recruitment announcements for about 1,600 units will begin on the 27th of this month. The remaining approximately 1,200 units requiring repairs will have additional recruitment announcements in the second half of the year.

HUG will begin tenant recruitment announcements from July 24 after negotiating the eviction of current residents and repairing auctioned homes. So far, 590 homes have been acquired through auctions (from May 7 to June 14).

Dundeun Jeonse Housing applicants can apply regardless of income or assets as long as they are non-homeowners. Non-homeowners looking for rental housing can check detailed information and application methods for announced homes on the LH Subscription Plus or HUG Safe Jeonse Portal.

Kim Gyu-cheol, Director of the Housing and Land Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "Dundeun Jeonse Housing is a public institution directly supplying non-apartment housing where tenants can live long-term at affordable prices by paying the jeonse deposit to the institution." He added, "Expanding the supply of Dundeun Jeonse Housing is expected to alleviate the concentration on apartments." Kim also explained, "Especially, HUG’s Dundeun Jeonse Housing is a new type of public rental housing that allows all parties?tenants, HUG, and the housing market?to coexist harmoniously."

Thanks to HUG’s Dundeun Jeonse Housing, tenants can live safely and affordably for long periods in Seoul and the metropolitan area, where jeonse demand is high, since the public institution acts as the landlord. HUG can quickly secure housing ownership through auction wins without additional purchase costs and maintain liquidity through new tenants’ jeonse deposits. From the perspective of the overall housing market, this will immediately supply safe non-apartment jeonse housing in the metropolitan area, especially Seoul, partially easing the avoidance of villas due to concerns over jeonse deposit non-return and the demand concentration on apartments.