Housing Pension Concentration in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Severe... Two out of Three Subscribers Are from the Metropolitan Area

Shin Jang-sik "Need to Encourage Subscription Among Non-Capital Region Residents"

Two out of three subscribers to the 'Housing Pension,' a program where the elderly receive monthly pensions by using their homes as collateral, reside in the Seoul metropolitan area. It was also confirmed that the pension payment amount in Seoul is more than twice that of non-metropolitan areas.

According to data requested by Assemblyman Shin Jang-sik of the Party for National Innovation from the Korea Housing Finance Corporation on the 14th, the proportion of subscribers in the Seoul metropolitan area accounted for 67.6% (68,252 cases) as of the end of July. Seoul and Gyeonggi were recorded at 27,146 and 35,239 cases, respectively. The region with the fewest subscribers was Sejong (389 cases).

In cases where housing pension subscribers own multiple homes, one of the properties is located in the Seoul metropolitan area. Among multi-home housing pension subscribers, 57.3% (747 cases) were registered in the metropolitan area. The number of multi-home subscribers in Seoul and Gyeonggi was 288 and 376, respectively.

The average monthly payment in Seoul (2,247,000 KRW) was more than twice the non-metropolitan average (1,031,000 KRW). Gyeonggi (1,663,000 KRW) and Sejong (1,544,000 KRW) were also regions where the monthly payment exceeded the overall average (1,544,000 KRW). Busan (1,323,000 KRW) and Daejeon (1,266,000 KRW) followed, while the region with the lowest average monthly payment nationwide was Jeonnam (675,000 KRW).

The average officially assessed price of housing pension subscriber homes in Seoul was also more than twice that of non-metropolitan areas. The average official price in Seoul was 467.87 million KRW, 2.7 times the non-metropolitan average (174.11 million KRW) and 1.6 times the overall average (293.63 million KRW). It was 4.4 times higher than Jeonnam (106.9 million KRW), which had the lowest average official price.

The housing pension is a government-guaranteed system that allows homeowners to provide their homes as collateral and live in them while receiving a lifelong monthly pension. Anyone can use it if one spouse is 55 years or older and owns a home or residential officetel with an official price of 1.2 billion KRW or less. Even multi-home owners can apply if the combined official price of the couple's homes is 1.2 billion KRW or less.

Assemblyman Shin said, "It is encouraging that the number of housing pension subscribers is continuously increasing, but since it is concentrated in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, supplementary measures are needed," adding, "Measures to encourage housing pension subscriptions among residents in non-metropolitan areas are necessary."