The South Korean government plans to expand its public rental housing stock to 2.5 million units by 2030 while also improving housing quality. However, recent data from the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) reveals that the number of defects per unit in public housing has more than doubled over the past four years.
According to materials submitted by Representative Jeong Hee-yong of the ruling People Power Party to the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee on September 30, the average number of defects per unit in public rental housing—including public sales, conversion to sales, and long-term public rentals—rose from 5.1 in 2022 to 5.4 in 2023, 9.5 in 2024, and 11.5 in 2025. Compared to 2022, the number of defects per unit increased by approximately 2.3 times last year, with the figure reaching eight by June of this year.
As the government pushes for a significant increase in public rental housing supply, there are calls to strengthen quality management systems. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on September 21 that it aims to increase the current public rental housing stock of 1.94 million units to 2.5 million by 2030, adding about 560,000 units over the next four years, which represents a nearly 29% increase.
The government intends not only to expand the quantity of public rental housing but also to improve its quality. However, the rising number of defects in LH public housing underscores the need for enhanced quality management from the design and construction phases to align with the planned expansion.
Over the past five years, a total of 1,439,989 general defects have been reported in LH public housing. The most common type of defect was related to window installation, accounting for 297,112 cases (20.6%). This was followed by wallpapering with 206,544 cases (14.3%), cabinetry with 174,734 cases (12.1%), flooring with 16,016 cases (11.1%), tiling with 109,683 cases (7.6%), and painting with 87,029 cases (6.0%).
Defects in these six categories accounted for 1,035,118 cases, or 71.9% of the total. More than seven out of ten general defects were concentrated in specific areas such as windows, wallpapering, cabinetry, flooring, tiling, and painting.
Serious defects were also concentrated in certain types. Among the 1,255 serious defects reported in the last five years, 449 were due to building leaks, 332 were related to faulty lighting fixtures, and 223 were due to plumbing leaks. Together, these three types accounted for 1,004 cases, or about 80% of all serious defects. The combination of building and plumbing leaks alone exceeded 672 cases, representing more than half of the total.
Representative Jeong stated, "If we have set a supply target of 2.5 million public rental housing units, we must also have the corresponding quality management capabilities. The government and LH should be evaluated by the public not just on 'how much we supplied' but also on 'how well we built.'"
He added, "We should not limit ourselves to post-repair responses to reported defects but analyze the causes of recurring defects to improve the design, materials, and construction phases. We need to strengthen on-site quality management and supervision to prevent the same defects from recurring."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.