The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it has begun accepting applications for the second half of its Housing Support Program for Childbearing Households Without Homes. The program provides up to 300,000 won per month for two years—totaling up to 7.2 million won—to help cover interest on jeonse (lump-sum housing lease) deposit loans or monthly rent for households that have recently given birth.

To be eligible, applicants must be homeless, reside at the same address as their child in Seoul, have a child born within the last year registered in Seoul, and have a household income at or below 180% of the median income.

Additionally, the jeonse deposit must be 500 million won or less, or the combined monthly rent and the converted monthly rent of the deposit must be 2.29 million won or less.

Households already receiving housing support, such as those living in public rental housing, are ineligible for overlapping benefits.

The city eased the eligibility criteria this year, raising the limits from 300 million won for jeonse deposits and 1.3 million won for monthly rent, which were in place until last year, to 500 million won and 2.29 million won, respectively. As a result, the number of applicants in the first half of this year reached 1,754, an 88% increase compared to the total number of applicants for all of last year (935).

While the support period is two years, it can be extended by one year for each additional child, allowing for a maximum of four years of support.

Applications for the second half of the year will be accepted through the end of the year on the Seoul "Tansaeng Yuga Mongttang" (Birth and Childcare Information) website.

After a verification process, the recipients will be announced in January of next year, and the support funds are scheduled to be distributed starting in February.

Ma Chae-sook, Head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, stated, "In a situation where the burden of jeonse and monthly rent is increasing, housing costs after childbirth are a realistic difficulty felt by many families." She added, "We hope that housing support will be provided to many citizens in the second half of the year, contributing to the creation of a stable housing and child-rearing environment."

She further added, "We will carefully listen to the opinions of supported households and reflect the voices from the field to develop this into a housing support policy that allows childbearing households to raise children stably in Seoul."