"Uncomfortable with Porsche and BMW in Rental Apartments"..."So What If They Meet the Requirements"

LH Rental Apartment Residents' Stories Gain Attention
Many Foreign Cars in Low-Income Housing
"It's a Loophole" vs "We Must Consider Current Value"

Photos showing several foreign cars worth over 100 million won parked in the parking lot of rental apartments for low-income families have sparked controversy. On the 26th, a post titled "Is this reality for cars in LH rental apartments?" was uploaded on an online community. The author, Mr. A, wrote, "This is an LH rental housing apartment, and these kinds of cars are parked here. Residents are stressed because there is no place to park, but is this really the reality?" The photos uploaded by Mr. A included high-priced foreign cars such as the BMW 7 Series and Porsche Boxster, each valued at up to 100 million won.

Photo of a Porsche posted by Mr. A, claiming it was parked in a rental apartment. Online community BobaeDream

Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) considers the current value of owned vehicles, in addition to total assets, as a qualification criterion for moving into rental apartments for low-income households without homes. In other words, people who own vehicles exceeding a certain value cannot move into apartments rented by LH. As of 2024, the vehicle value criteria for LH's national rental and Happy Housing are 37.08 million won or less, for public rental housing 36.83 million won or less, and for long-term lease 34.96 million won or less to qualify for residency.

However, for existing permanent rental tenants with special exceptions, demolition victims, and other residents for whom asset criteria are deferred or not applied, vehicles can be registered regardless of their value. Also, even for expensive foreign cars, if the vehicle has been in use for more than 10 years, depreciation may reduce the vehicle value below the standard in some cases.

Netizens who saw the post criticized, saying, "The cars shown in the photos all violate the LH rental housing residency qualifications," "Driving expensive cars while living cheaply in rental apartments is not right," and "It's a loophole, illegal, and a trick." However, some opinions stated, "The current value of the vehicle should be the basis," and "It is unreasonable to criticize solely based on the manufacturer and brand name without considering the vehicle's condition or age."

According to data submitted by LH to Kim Hee-jung, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, on the 3rd of last month, a total of 311 LH residents were found to own vehicles exceeding the qualification criteria for rental housing residency and contract renewal. Among them, 135 people, accounting for 43.4%, were found to own foreign cars such as △BMW (50 units) △Mercedes-Benz (38 units) △Tesla (9 units) △Audi (9 units) △Porsche (5 units).