Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Hong Ji-sun emphasized, "The biggest cause of rising jeonse (lump-sum deposit lease) and monthly rent prices is the decrease in incoming move-in volume due to sluggish housing starts," adding, "The fundamental solution is supply." Minister Hong posted a message containing these points titled "I am listening closely to concerns over monthly rent burdens" on X (formerly Twitter) last night (October 21).

She stated, "Housing permits and starts in Seoul from January to August of this year increased by more than 40% compared to last year, and about 100,000 units of public housing in the Seoul metropolitan area will be ready for move-in by the end of next year," and added, "We will also expand 20-year long-term private rentals and universal public housing to broaden options where people can live with peace of mind for a long time."

Minister Hong diagnosed that the recent phenomenon in which jeonse transactions decrease while monthly rent transactions increase is a structural change in the lease market.

Minister Hong said, "The shift from jeonse to monthly rent is a structural change in the lease market driven by the increase in single-person households and the aftermath of jeonse fraud," adding, "Amid this change, the government has expanded support to alleviate the housing cost burden of the public."

She continued, "Homeless workers with a total annual salary of 80 million won or less who live in qualifying housing can deduct 15% to 17% of their monthly rent from their taxes up to an annual limit of 10 million won," explaining, "If someone has a total annual salary of 55 million won or less and pays 1 million won per month in rent, they can receive a deduction of up to 1.7 million won per year."

She also added, "We are providing up to 200,000 won per month in youth rent support," and "We will continue to look for ways to ease the monthly rent burden."

(Photo: Yonhap News)