Only 12% of Private Rental Homes in Seoul Are Apartments, Yet Landlords Blamed for Housing Shortage

Data show that apartments owned by rental business operators made up only 12% of registered private rental housing in Seoul last year. This is the first time the share of landlords' apartments within all registered private rental homes has been disclosed. Observers say it is time to take another close look at the structure of the landlord sector, which has often been cited as one of the causes of the housing shortage.
According to data Financial News obtained from the Korea Association of Housing Landlords on the 8th, landlords owned 41,492 apartment units in Seoul last year. That represents 11.9% of the 348,057 registered private rental homes in the city. In this context, landlords' apartments refer to individually registered rental apartments, excluding public-supported private rentals, corporate rentals, and build-to-rent units slated for later sale. Those categories accounted for 10,612 units, 3,441 units, and 189 units, respectively.
By contrast, non-apartment units accounted for 84% of the total, making up the overwhelming majority. Multi-family walk-up buildings made up about half, with 130,000 units, followed by 77,881 officetel units and 32,932 multi-household homes. There were also 17,859 single-family houses and 10,281 urban lifestyle housing units.
With the exact share of landlords' apartments disclosed for the first time, calls are growing to correct the recent narrative that blames landlords for the housing shortage. A representative from the rental industry said, "Most of us own non-apartment units, where demand is relatively weak, so it is not easy to sell them," adding, "Despite this, we seem to be labeled as the main culprit behind Seoul's housing shortage, which is frustrating."
In reality, regulations targeting landlords have been tightening in recent years. At a meeting earlier this month on the "2026 Household Debt Management Plan," the Financial Services Commission, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and other related agencies announced that, starting on the 17th, mortgage loans on apartments in the Seoul Metropolitan Area and other regulated areas will, in principle, be banned for multiple-home owners and landlords. They decided to allow extensions at maturity only in exceptional cases where there are clear reasons the property cannot be sold immediately. However, industry officials argue that regulatory blind spots are inevitable.
The rental industry is also concerned that loan restrictions, which currently apply only to apartments, could eventually be extended to non-apartment properties. Another industry official warned, "If financing is cut off and buildings end up at auction, some tenants may not be able to recover their deposits," and stressed, "We need a carefully designed and comprehensive regulatory framework."
kjh0109@fnnews.com Kwon Jun-ho Reporter