Housing rights network roundtable meeting… “Expansion of integrated public rental housing should be prioritized over universal rental housing.”

On the 1st, the Housing Rights Network held a roundtable discussion at the Areumdri Hall of People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy in Jongno-gu, Seoul to mark World Housing Day designated by the United Nations and evaluated the government's housing welfare policies.

Previously, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the 'Housing Stability Plan' on the 21st of last month, which includes supplying 1.19 million public housing units by 2030 and introducing 'universal public rentals' with large areas for various demand groups.

Choi Eun-young, director of the Korea Urban Research Institute, said in this plan, "It is positive that the plan to supply public rental housing has been confirmed and support for housing costs such as housing benefits has been strengthened," but "there is a lack of specific goals, schedules, organization, and manpower to improve the housing rights of vulnerable groups."

Specifically, it was pointed out that there was insufficient consideration of priority support groups, such as households that did not meet the minimum housing standards or residents of gosiwons, and that the amount of public rental housing distributed to vulnerable groups was also unclear.

It was also pointed out that the qualitative and quantitative expansion of existing integrated public rental housing should be prioritized over the expansion of universal public rental housing for the middle class and above. Integrated public rental housing is rental housing that integrates various public rental types such as existing permanent rental, national rental, and happy housing into one. The rent is applied differentially at 35 to 90% of the market price depending on the income level, and residents can live for up to 30 years.

Lee Kang-hoon, executive chairman of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, pointed out, "The government's plan is meaningful in that it expands the supply of public housing, but as it utilizes limited resources and land, the target of supply, rent, rental period, and maintenance period of public assets must be comprehensively considered."

In particular, he argued that “the qualitative and quantitative expansion of integrated public rental housing should be prioritized over the expansion of universal public rental housing for the middle class and above,” and that “financial support for public rental housing should also be applied differentially according to income, assets, and housing vulnerability.”

Meanwhile, Seo Dong-gyu, chairman of the Snail Union, said, "In terms of private rental housing tenants, strengthening the transparency of management fees and expanding youth rental support are meaningful progress, but more active measures are needed to prevent rental fraud. We need to establish quality standards for private rental housing and expand public management."

He also pointed out, “It is necessary to expand monthly rent support for young people, but there are limitations in that it is a two-year temporary and lottery-based support,” and “there is a need for a plan to universally lower the rent burden on young households that actually need help.”