Event runs Friday–Saturday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza Art Hall 1
Landlord recruitment to open in mid-October
I have a home in Jongno-gu, Seoul that I rent out on a jeonse basis. If I use the jeonse and monthly rent safe trust, HUG will match me with a tenant — so I could also save the brokerage fee, which runs into the hundreds of thousands of won every two years. I'm thinking about applying when the recruitment opens in mid-October.
— Shin, 66
The Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation set up a promotional booth Friday at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, during the Herald Money Festa, showcasing its new "jeonse and monthly rent safe trust" program. The scheme is designed to protect tenants from jeonse fraud while giving landlords a steady fixed monthly return.
At the booth, HUG staff walked visitors through the program's structure, how to participate and the benefits available to landlords, while also offering on-site consultations. Visitors ranging from people in their 20s and 30s to senior citizens turned out in large numbers.
Under the safe trust program, HUG recruits willing landlords and directly matches them with tenants. The corporation verifies basic eligibility — checking whether the jeonse deposit is excessive relative to market price and whether the property has any building-code violations — before a three-way contract is signed among the landlord, tenant and HUG. Once the tenant pays the final balance and moves in, the landlord begins receiving a fixed monthly payment from HUG.
Landlords enrolled in the program are expected to receive a monthly return at an annual yield of 4.35%, and the mandatory rental deposit guarantee insurance requirement will be waived, reducing fee burdens. Even if a unit sits vacant, landlords will receive up to two months of guaranteed income. The program is also expected to help landlords who have struggled to find tenants because of existing mortgage liens on their properties.
A man in his 50s who visited the booth said one of his properties had been sitting empty because it was difficult to find a tenant. He said he expected the safe trust program to help improve his investment return.
For tenants, depositing jeonse funds with HUG removes the risk of jeonse fraud. They can also build up savings by living under a jeonse arrangement — which requires a lump-sum deposit rather than monthly rent — instead of paying higher monthly rent. With the rental market shifting rapidly toward monthly-rent contracts, the program is expected to expand the supply of jeonse housing available to tenants.
HUG plans to lend out the deposits entrusted by landlords to project financing developments backed by HUG guarantees, using the interest income to pay landlords their fixed monthly returns. The corporation said it aims to channel jeonse deposits tied up in gap investment transactions into housing supply, contributing to real estate market stability. HUG plans to begin recruiting landlords for the safe trust program in mid-October.
Now in its third year, the Herald Money Festa 2026 runs Friday and Saturday under the theme "Money Rebalancing: Recalibrating the Weight of Your Assets." The two-day event features lectures spanning shares, ETFs, real estate, gold and virtual assets, as well as asset management, tax planning and inheritance strategies — offering attendees a chance to reassess their financial flows and portfolios amid a rapidly shifting investment environment.
hss@heraldcorp.com
