Seoul to provide interest-free support of up to 45 million won for Youth Safe Housing deposits

[Financial News] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is considering a policy to provide interest-free support of up to 45 million won for deposits on Youth Safe Housing units. Following its monthly rent assistance for young people, the city has also decided to pursue maintenance-fee support starting in the second half of next year.
Ho Jong-won, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Youth Housing Policy Team, told reporters after the “Roundtable on Housing Stability for University Students” at Wonheung Hall at Dongguk University on the 12th that “the relevant details have been included in next year’s budget proposal.”
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, university students, landlords and experts attended the meeting that day and discussed ways to build a housing ladder.
Regarding maintenance-fee support in the second half of next year, Mayor Oh said, “The ordinance on support for young people is currently being amended,” adding, “It should happen soon.”
The roundtable also discussed plans to provide Seoul-style shared housing for university students, along with housing-cost assistance. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to pursue a range of projects, including purchased rental housing, property donations, public-private partnerships and private rentals, with the goal of providing 6,000 units by 2030. It also proposed building sports and cultural facilities alongside the housing and opening associated parking lots, restaurants and other facilities to the local community.
Under the public-private partnership model, the Seoul Metropolitan Government provides the site, while the Korea Foundation for the Promotion of Private Schools is responsible for building and operating the shared housing. The city is currently considering idle sites, including public parking lots and railway land, as potential locations.
Landlords and experts said that since the jeonse fraud problem emerged in 2022, the requirements for obtaining rental deposit guarantee insurance have been tightened and small studio units have been shifting to monthly rentals. They said stricter regulations, including heavier taxes on owners of multiple homes, were putting upward pressure on monthly rents, and called for institutional improvements such as easing regulations to bring rents down.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is considering various policies, including interest-free support for housing deposits, to address housing problems facing young people. The city currently provides monthly rent assistance to young people. The number of recipients rose from 5,000 in 2020 to 36,000 in 2022 and 44,000 in 2024.
Last March, the city announced measures to stabilize housing for young people and set a goal of providing 74,000 homes tailored to different life stages over five years. As of the end of September this year, 11,000 units had been provided, equal to 84% of this year’s target of 13,000.
Seoul-style shared housing, tailored to university students, has a target of 6,000 units by 2030. The city has completed acquisition reviews for 540 units this year, more than twice its public acquisition target of 250 units.
The city also plans to move quickly on a new project, “Youth Future Town.” It will pursue the former National Institute of Health site as a flagship project and develop four sites, including the Sinnae Vehicle Depot, Susaek Vehicle Depot and Tancheon Sewage Treatment Center, in stages according to local conditions. Mayor Oh said, “We will continue to pursue comprehensive housing-cost support and other measures so that the housing ladder for young people can be restored.”

[email protected] Kwon Jun-ho Reporter