Specialized public rental housing to be defined by law; ruling party to submit bill soon

[Financial News] Legislation is being prepared to upgrade the specialized public rental housing scheme, which has so far been run on the basis of an administrative directive, into a system grounded in law. According to the National Assembly on the 8th, Bok Ki-wang and Yeom Tae-young, members of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, plan to jointly submit a partial amendment to the Special Act on Public Housing. The bill will clarify the legal basis for specialized public rental housing and strengthen provisions on operating entities and safeguards for tenants.
Specialized public rental housing is a type of public rental housing that combines residential units tailored to the needs of specific groups—such as young people, older adults, and persons with disabilities—with non-residential services like care and support for independent living. It has been supplied as a form of social housing. However, the purchase-type and construction-type models have been operated separately under an administrative directive and guidelines, leading to repeated criticism that the scheme lacks continuity and stability.
A separate amendment to the Special Act on Public Housing, which would allow social economy entities to participate in construction-type specialized housing and provide a legal basis for supporting their operating and management costs, has already been introduced and is pending in the National Assembly. While there is broad agreement on the need for the scheme, discussions have stalled because the legal basis and management framework remain insufficient.
The new amendment is being pursued as a joint proposal to refine the content of the pending bill and fill institutional gaps. It elevates the legal basis for specialized public rental housing from an administrative directive to statute, and stipulates that it can be supplied through both publicly built rental housing and publicly purchased rental housing. This is intended to enhance consistency in how the scheme is operated.
The bill also clarifies who can operate these projects. It explicitly designates social enterprises, social cooperatives, and non-profit corporations as operating agencies for specialized public rental housing, thereby providing a legal basis for their participation in construction-type specialized housing. At the same time, if an operating agency holds or manages all or part of the tenants’ security deposits, it will be required to take out guarantee insurance. This is meant to systematically manage the risk of deposit non-refund, an issue that has repeatedly surfaced as social housing has expanded.
Measures to bolster operational stability are also included. The amendment creates a legal basis for establishing a support center for specialized public rental housing operations, enabling public housing providers to offer consulting and training to operating agencies. It further stipulates that the state and local governments may fund the costs needed for these activities. Penalties for failing to subscribe to guarantee insurance are set out, along with transitional provisions designed to ease the burden on existing operators.
The amendment is seen as an attempt to move social housing from being merely a vehicle for expanding supply into the realm of institutional reform, strengthening both operational stability and tenant protection. Attention is now on whether discussions will gain momentum to establish specialized public rental housing not as a temporary policy tool, but as a mainstream component of the national housing policy framework.
en1302@fnnews.com Jang In-seo Reporter