Lee Sunghoon, President of LH: "20,000 Purchase Rental Units to Be Supplied in Seoul Over 3 Years... Only 2 Years Until Move-In"

15,000 Units of Youth Purchase Rental Housing to Be Supplied
Distribution Across All 25 Districts of Seoul
1,580 Units Planned for Dongdaemun-gu

Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) will supply 20,000 units of newly built purchase rental housing in central Seoul over the next three years. This supply scale is comparable to that of Daejang, Bucheon, one of the third-phase new cities, and the plan is interpreted as an effort to accelerate the resolution of the housing supply shortage in the greater Seoul area.

On September 8, Lee Sunghoon, President of LH, announced this plan at the 'Newly Built Purchase Agreement On-site Meeting' held at a newly constructed purchase rental housing complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The meeting was attended by over 20 participants, including Kim Itak, First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, National Assemblyman Kim Namgeun from the Democratic Party, and others.

LH held the "Newly Built Purchase Agreement On-site Meeting" on the 8th at a newly built purchase rental housing in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Lee Ji-eun

President Lee emphasized the need to expand the supply of purchase rental housing, explaining, "Due to increased construction costs, the number of available units has decreased. Both private and public sector supply has been undermined, which has put young people in a very difficult situation."

He added, "With newly built purchase rental housing, it is possible to go from site selection to move-in within one to two years, making it a core strategy for quickly stabilizing the monthly and yearly rental markets. We will strive to supply better homes faster and in greater numbers in locations that young people want."

According to LH, over the next three years, approximately 15,000 units of purchase rental housing for young people and about 3,400 units for newlyweds will be supplied in Seoul. These homes will be distributed across all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul, taking into account the rental demand from people without homes. In the youth category, Dongdaemun-gu will have the largest supply with 1,580 units, followed by Gangdong-gu with 1,543 units and Guro-gu with 1,388 units. For newlyweds, Jungnang-gu will have the largest supply with 506 units.

The purchase rental housing project is a program in which LH purchases existing houses or signs purchase agreements before construction is completed, then rents the units to young people without homes or to newlywed couples. The maximum residency period is 10 years, and top-priority tenants can live there at approximately 40% of the market rent. In Seoul, the average application competition ratio reached 130 to 1 last year, reflecting the very high level of interest among people without homes.

LH is making every effort to expedite the expansion of newly built purchase rental supply to resolve the housing shortage in the greater Seoul area. Measures include paying the purchase price in stages to accelerate supply and giving extra points to locations with high demand from young people, thereby prioritizing land acquisition for the purchase rental business.

At the event, First Vice Minister Kim Itak requested that, "Youth housing should be supplied consistently regardless of the overall economy, and I ask you to manage your targets to ensure a steady supply," emphasizing the need for supply continuity.

However, during the discussion, some participants pointed out that in order for LH to accelerate supply, it is necessary to improve the management evaluation system, which currently places too much emphasis on financial soundness. President Lee said, "The biggest challenge is that as a public sector organization, we operate according to the management evaluation system. In 2022, the system was revised to double the weight on financial indicators, which has created a structure where, for LH, the more we supply, the more employees' salaries are reduced. This is a problem that needs to be solved."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.