04-07-2025
Seoul mayor promotes public housing scheme to global counterparts
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Thursday promoted the South Korean capital's flagship long-term rental and public housing schemes focused on catering to newlyweds, to more than 60 city leaders at the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday.
Oh argued that innovative public housing can temper runaway housing costs and help sustain a rebound in the country's declining birth rate, at the biennial forum, hosted by Singapore's urban redevelopment authority, held at Vienna City Hall from July 2-4. Vienna earned hosting rights as the 2020 Lee Kuan Yew World Cities Prize laureate.
Opening the session on housing supply, Oh spotlighted 'SHIFT,' Seoul's long-term public lease system that lets residents lease apartments for up to 20 years at roughly 80 percent of market rates. The model, which won a UN-Habitat Special Scroll of Honor in 2010, has 'resulted in more children per household than conventional public rentals,' the mayor told delegates.
He then shed light on 'Mirinae Home,' an upgraded scheme for newlyweds that links lease terms and purchase discounts directly to family size.
Couples who have one child can maintain lease contract for two decades, while those with two children may buy the unit at a 10 percent discount and families with three children at 20 percent below market value. Seoul plans to boost Mirinae supply to at least 4,000 units a year beginning in 2026.
"High-density Seoul with small land cannot meet demand by simply building new stock,' Oh said at the forum. "The city also acquires aging private homes for remodeling and leases private units on bulk contracts."
Roughly 70 percent of its 433,000 public rentals have been secured through these channels, Oh said, pushing Seoul's public-rental share from 5.3 percent in 2010 to 11.2 percent last year.
