Korean Public Rental Housing for Low-income Households: Main Outcome and Limitations

This paper examines the achievements and limitations of housing assistance programs for low-income households. Korean public rental housing has been rapidly developing since 2000, and thereby achieved an increase in public rental housing stock, housing quality improvements, and the reduction of rent over-burden for low-income tenants. Despite some conflicting evidence, it appears that the provision of newly-built public rental housing has helped stabilize the prices of neighboring private rental housing units. But, as we are entering an era of one million long-term public rental housing units, we need to shift our focus from quantity-oriented provision to housing maintenance for tenants, and from cost-based rental housing to affordable rental housing and better access to rental housing for low-income tenants who are not beneficiaries of government assistance. Most of all, it is very important for local governments and the private sector to actively participate in the provision of public rental housing in order to ensure a stable rental housing market.