LH holds public forum on residential welfare

The headquarters of Korea Land and Housing Corporation in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province [Newsis]
The headquarters of Korea Land and Housing Corporation in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province [Newsis]

Korea Land and Housing Corporation said Thursday it held a "Public Forum on Residential Welfare" at a youth purchase-rental housing complex in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul.

The forum was organized to gather firsthand opinions from young residents on their housing concerns and to explore ways to improve the purchase-rental housing program.

LH President Lee Seong-hun attended alongside young residents living in purchase-rental housing, housing experts and youth influencers, who served as panelists. The discussion focused on diagnosing the current state of youth housing policy and debating concrete improvements.

In his opening remarks, Lee said accelerated housing supply efforts to support housing stability for low-income households without homes — including young people and newlyweds — had driven a dramatic increase in construction starts. "The volume of metropolitan purchase-rental housing starts, which stood at just 2,200 units two years ago, has reached around 40,000 units this year alone — more than an 18-fold increase in two years," he said. He added that more than 20,000 units in Seoul would be open for tenant recruitment from this year through 2028.

During the presentation and discussion that followed, LH released detailed figures on purchase-rental housing construction starts over the past three years and outlined its annual tenant recruitment plans for Seoul — including 1,920 units in Dongdaemun-gu, 1,900 units in Guro-gu and 1,061 units in Mapo-gu.

[Provided by LH]
[Provided by LH]

Participants exchanged a range of views on housing standards and amenities preferred by young people, areas for improvement across the entire process from apartment subscription to move-in, and effective ways to deliver residential welfare information tailored to young people's expectations.

Young residents currently living in purchase-rental housing spoke from personal experience, raising issues including gaps in the housing safety net, the need to expand rental housing for those entering the workforce and shortcomings in LH's services compared with private real estate platforms.

Ahead of the forum, LH collected improvement proposals from young people and conducted surveys before and after the event to identify five priority review tasks for purchase-rental housing. LH said it plans to monitor the selected tasks to ensure they translate into tangible policy improvements.

"For young people, a home is not simply a place to live — it is the foundation from which they prepare for the future and take on new challenges," Lee said. "We will strengthen communication and execution, and rapidly expand public rental housing centered on the greater Seoul area, so that young people can live stably in the city at an affordable cost."

Meanwhile, LH recently inspected a site in Mangwon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, where a new youth purchase-rental housing complex is nearing completion, and held a performance review meeting to boost this year's housing acquisition figures. After the complex is completed, LH plans to announce tenant recruitment in the first half of next year. Rent will be set at 30 to 40 percent of the surrounding market rate.


hss@heraldcorp.com