Democratic Party launches housing welfare committee — Rep. Kim Nam-geun chairs, Rep. Park Min-gyu leads party's side

Public rental housing to rise from 8% to 10% of housing stock; quality upgrades through renovation and reconstruction

Committee to secure dedicated staff and budgets; local-government-centered delivery system planned

Reps. Yeom Tae-young (from left), Oh Gi-hyeong, Kim Nam-geun and Heo Yeong attend a preparatory meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea's Special Committee on Housing Welfare at the National Assembly members' office building Thursday. [Yonhap]
Reps. Yeom Tae-young (from left), Oh Gi-hyeong, Kim Nam-geun and Heo Yeong attend a preparatory meeting of the Democratic Party of Korea's Special Committee on Housing Welfare at the National Assembly members' office building Thursday. [Yonhap]

The Democratic Party of Korea's Special Committee on Housing Welfare announced Thursday that it plans to expand the country's public rental housing stock from about 1.94 million units to 2.5 million, and will introduce a new local housing welfare tax to fund dedicated staff and budgets at local governments.

The committee held its inaugural preparatory meeting at the National Assembly members' office building Thursday. Rep. Kim Nam-geun was named chair and Rep. Park Min-gyu will lead the party's side on the committee.

"The committee will work with the government to review the housing welfare policy roadmap and discuss how to supply housing for young people, newlyweds and seniors," Kim said. "We also plan to gather a wide range of opinions through consultations with housing welfare organizations on issues such as housing vouchers and social housing."

Rep. Oh Gi-hyeong, who leads the ruling party's side on the Finance and Economy Committee, said public rental housing should eventually account for more than 20 percent of the total rental market. "We need to draw up a supply plan to achieve that, and the corresponding funding must also be secured — I believe it should be reflected starting from this year's budget discussions," he said. Oh added that the future response fund includes a youth category, and that direct allocation for youth and newlywed housing must continue to be discussed.

Rep. Heo Yeong, the Democratic Party's senior deputy chair for policy, said government-funded housing welfare and supply for senior housing — to support a second life after retirement — is urgently needed. "At the moment, only high-priced rental and pre-sale models operated by a handful of large conglomerates exist in the domestic market," he said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Kim said the committee would shift public rental housing policy from a supply-side focus to one centered on the needs of residents.

"In major advanced countries, about 10 percent of the existing housing stock is supplied as public housing, but we are currently at around 8 percent with 1.94 million units," Kim said. "We will bring that up to 2.5 million units, or about 10 percent." He added that housing around 15 years old would be upgraded through renovation projects, while units more than 30 years old would be rebuilt to supply a greater quantity of high-quality public housing.

Rep. Yeom Tae-young, who chairs the party's Good Local Government Committee, said the proposal was to introduce a local housing welfare tax to assign dedicated personnel and provide budget support to local governments for housing welfare. "There was broad consensus on establishing a local-government-centered housing welfare delivery system," he said. "We will concentrate the currently fragmented housing welfare functions into regional housing welfare centers and encourage their mandatory establishment."


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