Oh Se-hoon: "Average Monthly Rent for Seoul Apartments Hits 1.62 Million Won... It Has Become a 'Jeonse and Monthly-Rent Hell'"

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has described the jeonse and monthly-rent crisis as a "jeonse and monthly-rent hell" and urged the government to introduce extraordinary measures to revive the private rental market.
On the 7th, Oh said on social media, "The entire Seoul area is becoming a housing hell because of the jeonse and monthly-rent crisis. Cries of despair are erupting everywhere from people driven out as jeonse and monthly-rent refugees who say they can no longer live in Seoul."
Oh particularly pointed to the reality that average monthly rent for apartments in Seoul had reached a record 1.62 million won, while the shortage of jeonse listings continued. The government is reportedly reviewing measures to reduce the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax burden on corporate rental operators.
Calling the move "too little, too late," Oh criticized the government, saying, "Since last year, I have demanded that lending regulations be eased so that purchase-based rental operators can supply enough jeonse and monthly-rental housing, and that they be excluded from the combined tax assessment for the Comprehensive Real Estate Holding Tax."
He criticized the measures as far from sufficient to address the rapid disappearance of jeonse and the surge in monthly rents.
He continued, "It is fortunate that the government is reviewing the issue now, at least," but added, "This alone is nowhere near enough to resolve the current jeonse and monthly-rent crisis." He said the disappearance of jeonse and the surge in monthly rents are accelerating rapidly by the day.
Oh argues that the government's decision to stigmatize registered rental operators as speculators and eliminate their existing tax benefits has fueled the current housing crisis. More than 20,000 registered rental apartments in Seoul are expected to reach the end of their mandatory rental periods this year, and approximately 30,000 households are projected to do so by 2028.
Oh proposed, "The government should establish a legal definition for corporate private rental operators and clearly set out their support and obligations so that a stable rental market can be formed." He added, "Registered rental operators should also be used as entities that supply stable rental housing on behalf of the state within a predictable institutional framework."
He also urged the government to change its policy focus on owner-occupied housing, saying, "Regulations based on the approach of burning down the thatched house to catch a bedbug must be comprehensively reconsidered."
[email protected] Jeon Min-kyung Reporter