According to data from the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), 43,326 rental units have been vacant for over six months. The vacancy rate in the metropolitan area is 2.6%, while it is 4.7% in non-metropolitan areas, highlighting a significant gap between supply and actual housing demand.
On October 11, Representative Jeong Hee-yong of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, reported that as of last month, there were 35,717 construction rental units vacant for more than six months. Additionally, there were 7,609 long-term vacancies in purchased rental units, bringing the total to 43,326.
Regionally, the vacancy rate for construction rental units in Seoul is 0.7%, and for purchased rental units, it is 1%, resulting in an overall rate of about 0.8%. In contrast, Daegu and Gyeongbuk have a combined vacancy rate of approximately 5.6%, seven times higher than that of Seoul. In Chungnam, the vacancy rate for construction rental units is 10.6%, while for purchased units, it reaches 19.5%. Sejong also recorded double-digit vacancy rates of 10.2% and 16.5%, respectively.
Although LH has relaxed entry requirements for long-term vacant housing to broaden the pool of potential tenants, the number of contracts has actually decreased. The number of recruitment sites with relaxed entry requirements increased from 204 in 2022 to 282 last year, but contracts fell from 14,571 to 6,719, a decline of 53.9%.
Efforts are underway to supply long-term vacancies to local governments, public institutions, small businesses, and military bases. However, from last year to July of this year, the number of units supplied to institutions was only 3,361, accounting for just 9.4% of the current long-term vacancies in construction rental units.
Representative Jeong stated, "The issue of vacancies in rural areas could lead to regional hollowing out, beyond the financial burden on LH," and emphasized the need for relaxed entry requirements, expanded institutional supply, and a shift in rental types.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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