LH 'Rental Housing Household Vehicle Total Price Under 37.08 Million KRW' Standard
Renewal Possible If No Vehicle During Inquiry Period
Seoul Gangnam-gu Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) Seoul Regional Headquarters. [Photo by Yonhap News]
It has been revealed that more than 300 residents of rental apartments managed by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), which are supplied to low-income households without homes, own high-priced cars that exceed the eligibility criteria for rental apartments.
On the 2nd, Kim Hee-jung, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, announced through data received from LH that currently 311 residents of LH rental housing own vehicles exceeding the eligibility criteria for move-in and contract renewal.
Among them, 135 owned imported cars. By brand, BMW was the most common with 50 vehicles, followed by Mercedes-Benz with 38, Tesla with 9, Audi with 9, and Porsche with 5.
A resident of a national rental apartment in Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, owned a 2023 Porsche Cayenne Turbo valued at approximately 180 million KRW (assessed value), and a resident of a rental apartment in Osan-myeon, Iksan-si, Jeonbuk, owned a 2022 Porsche Cayenne worth over 100 million KRW.
There were also vehicles such as BMW iX xDrive50 (98 million KRW, 2022 model), Mercedes-Benz S650 (87 million KRW, 2018 model), Cayenne Coupe (78 million KRW, 2022 model), Range Rover (63 million KRW, 2021 model), Volvo XC90 (62 million KRW, 2023 model), and Bentley Continental GT (46 million KRW, 2014 model).
Among high-priced domestic cars, Genesis models were the most common with 78 vehicles. Among domestic electric car brands, there were also 20 EV6s priced up to 60 million KRW and 8 Ioniq 5s.
The eligibility criteria for LH rental apartments require that the combined value of all vehicles owned by the household, as well as this year's income, must be 37.08 million KRW or less.
Residents who moved in before January 5th can renew their rental apartment contract once even if their vehicle value exceeds the limit, allowing them to reside in rental apartments while owning high-priced vehicles.
According to LH, 271 residents owning luxury cars moved in before January 5th. They can renew their lease once even after the contract ends. It was found that 76 of them can reside until 2028.
Additionally, residents can renew their contracts if they do not own high-priced vehicles during the eligibility verification period conducted by the Social Security Information Service at the time of contract renewal. LH requests eligibility verification from the Social Security Information Service 3 to 4 months before the lease contract expires. Residents may purchase high-priced vehicles after the verification period.
Meanwhile, 40 residents are illegally residing despite their contracts having expired. Among them, 4 have been residing long-term for over a year.
Assemblyman Kim said, "It is inappropriate to own high-priced vehicles while living in rental apartments built with taxpayers' money," and added, "The government and LH will actively address the shortcomings of the system by strengthening eligibility verification and other measures."
LH stated, "We regularly conduct comprehensive surveys of registered vehicles to restrict residents' ownership and parking of high-priced vehicles," and added, "We will strictly manage high-priced vehicle ownership in rental housing through system improvements, contract renewal refusals, and parking registration restrictions."
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