Civic Groups Say Presidential Candidates' Housing Rights Pledges Lack Substance

Housing Rights Network Comments on Major Candidates' Housing Pledges

Civic groups such as the Alliance for the Poor Society and the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy assessed that the housing and real estate pledges of the candidates running in the 21st presidential election are lacking in substance.

In a statement released on the 13th, the Housing Rights Network said, "Coincidentally, the date of this presidential election is also No Homeowner's Day (June 3), but it is difficult to find policies for homeless tenants in the housing and real estate pledges of the candidates." The group argued, "Overall, the housing and real estate pledges are insufficient, and it is especially disappointing that housing welfare policies for vulnerable groups are missing."

The organizations stated, "Fragmented policies are not enough to stabilize housing prices and secure stable housing for ordinary people." They also commented, "In this presidential election, the candidates from the Democratic Party of Korea, the People Power Party, and the Reform Party appear to lack the will to correct the wrongs of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's real estate policies." While some pledges target specific voter groups such as young people, newlyweds, and multi-homeowners, the organizations believe there is no real intention to solve the housing problem.

Members of civic groups participating in the Housing Rights Network, the National Countermeasure Committee for Jeonse Fraud and Empty Jeonse Victims, and others held a press conference on policy demands related to housing rights for the 21st presidential election on the 30th of last month in front of Woldae at Gwanghwamun, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the pledges of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jaemyung, the organizations said there is a lack of a comprehensive vision for housing policy and that measures for vulnerable groups living in poor housing conditions are missing. The pledge to supply public housing for young people was criticized as a policy that does not consider the characteristics of different groups, and the plan to provide senior-friendly housing was seen as merely a repetition of existing policies. The pledges to increase the floor area ratio and ease the financial burden for redevelopment and reconstruction in aging urban areas of Seoul were argued to potentially stimulate housing price increases and speculation.

The pledges of People Power Party candidate Kim Moonsu were criticized for focusing on deregulation and for inheriting the flawed real estate policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Although there was a pledge to expand housing supply, the organizations pointed out that it lacked specifics, and that the relaxation of loan regulations was simply a repeat of policies from the Park Geun-hye administration. They warned that housing inequality and asset inequality could be further exacerbated.

Reform Party candidate Lee Junseok was criticized for not including any housing or real estate policies among his top ten pledges. Although he recently announced some housing pledges, such as tax reductions on housing, easing of redevelopment and reconstruction regulations, and expanded loans, these were also assessed as policies that only benefit homeowners or landlords, with no measures to reduce the housing cost burden or improve housing welfare.

In contrast, Democratic Labor Party candidate Kwon Youngguk was credited with presenting relatively concrete policies, such as measures for lease systems to stabilize housing for ordinary people, remedies and prevention for Jeonse fraud victims, public redevelopment, and the supply of two million units of green public rental housing. He was the only presidential candidate to include both real estate speculation regulation measures and a pledge to ban the rental of substandard housing, a policy mainly adopted in advanced Western European countries.

The Housing Rights Network and other civic groups called on all party candidates to adopt presidential election pledges that include policies such as relief for Jeonse fraud victims, revision of the lease law, expansion of public housing supply, non-discriminatory housing welfare, strengthening of real estate taxation and development profit recovery, stronger regulation of speculation and expansion of public interest, carbon reduction in the construction sector to respond to the climate crisis, and alleviation of concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area.