Oh Se-hoon, the People Power Party’s candidate for Seoul mayor, said he would supply about 130,000 public housing units by 2031 and expand long-term lease housing designed to reduce fears of jeonse fraud.
Oh announced the pledge Tuesday as part of what his campaign called a comprehensive plan to strengthen a “housing mobility safety net.” The plan focuses on three pillars — expanding housing supply, boosting financial support and lowering housing costs — to stabilize housing for residents without homes, his camp said. It is aimed at countering rising jeonse prices and a shrinking number of listings through more supply and financing support.
Under the slogan “the answer to the housing problem is overwhelming supply,” Oh said he would provide 123,000 public rental units and 6,500 public for-sale units by 2031. For the public for-sale portion, he pledged to introduce a “Baro Nae Jip” model that includes land-lease apartments priced at about half of nearby market levels and installment-plan apartments requiring a 20% upfront payment, to lower barriers to homeownership. He also said long-term lease housing would expand to 106,000 units by 2031 from 37,000 now.
Oh also pledged to restore what he called Seoul residents’ “sovereignty” over housing funds. His campaign said Seoul residents have contributed about 25 trillion won to the national Housing and Urban Fund through subscription savings, but only about 10 trillion won has been invested in housing projects in Seoul. Oh said he would seek to expand the fund and strengthen support for private-sector housing supply, including land purchases and construction costs. “Seoul has been building a housing promotion fund for the past year and now holds about 5 trillion won,” Oh said. “If I become mayor, I will press the government more strongly to increase it to 10 trillion won.”
The plan also calls for life-stage housing cost support. Oh said the city would raise the ceiling for interest-free deposit loans under the Long-term Relief Housing program to up to 70 million won, and subsidize loan interest for newlywed couples living in public rental housing for up to 12 years. He pledged to extend youth rent support to 12 months from 10 and broaden eligibility to include single-parent families and victims of jeonse fraud. For middle-aged residents without homes, he proposed a new “matching savings account” program that would combine rent support with city-backed savings to help participants build a 10 million won nest egg.
Oh also pledged a three-step protection system to prevent jeonse fraud. It would include a pre-contract risk screening service, an “safety manager” with a licensed real estate agent credential to accompany tenants when signing contracts, and post-contract support such as subsidies for jeonse deposit return guarantee insurance. For vulnerable groups including young people, he said the city would guarantee 100% coverage through deposit return guarantees.
Oh on Tuesday also formally launched the “Real Estate Hell” civic task force. “I will go deeper into the field and step up efforts to deliver, in citizens’ own voices, the hardships faced by residents without homes, including turmoil in the monthly and jeonse rental markets,” he said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.