South Korea: President pledges to increase public rental housing

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) — Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Friday pledged to build more public rental homes across the country to help young adults and senior citizens struggling with high housing costs.

During a ceremony welcoming new residents of the public rental housing complex in Seoul, Hwang also said the government will seek to expand state housing support for low-income families and push for the construction of public housing exclusively for senior citizens.

“We will make our best efforts to address housing problems facing young adults by expanding public rental houses where they can live for extended periods without paying expensive rent,” Hwang said during the ceremony at the complex in Gajwa, western Seoul.

The acting president said that this year, the government plans to provide 120,000 public rental houses, an increase of 10,000 units from the original plan.

The new complex in Seoul is designed specifically for university students. It has 362 houses with 222 of them provided to university students and the rest to young adults, couples and senior citizens, the complex’s officials said.

The rental fees at the complex are over 60 percent less than those of private houses around the complex. Residents can stay at the complex for up to 10 years.

Friday’s ceremony was attended by Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kang Ho-in, Korea Land and Housing Corp. CEO Park Sang-woo and Rep. Kim Young-ho of the main opposition Democratic Party, as well as residents.

Published by: Yonhap News Agency (24 February 2017)
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