On April 7th, the mayor of Seoul re-election will be held. With the public sentiment of Seoul citizens over the issue of house prices and rent to cheonsei, the candidates running for the by-election are struggling to put their real estate pledge to the fore. In fact, the Seoul Mayor’s by-election is a’real estate election’. However, in Seoul, where the percentage of self-occupancy living in self-owned homes is 42.7%, which is the lowest in the country, and the ratio of tenant households in the country, more than the’real estate election’ is necessary. On March 3, the’Election Network for Creating a Homeless Seoul’ (‘Seoul Net without Homework’) was launched, consisting of tenants and resident citizens’ organizations in Seoul. With the declaration that “Seoul is a city of tenants,” we plan to evaluate the pledges of each candidate’s housing and real estate, and make the citizens’ demands for Seoul where housing rights are guaranteed beyond real estate. And’Seoul Net’s Homelessness’ publishes seven times the voices of guaranteeing housing rights for tenants who are marginalized in the’real estate election’.
Hi. I am Park Jeong-yeop, head of the Mapo Residential Welfare Center of the Seoul Residential Welfare Center Association. The Seoul Housing Welfare Center provides various consultations on housing stability for Seoul citizens. In particular, we meet citizens who are worried about home problems as we provide counseling and housing support services tailored to households for low-income and vulnerable groups who are difficult to maintain or are in danger of housing loss within the local community. As rental housing in the private market has to bear high housing costs, in fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the common people to find jeonse housing. Given this situation, low-income families in Seoul have difficulty finding housing for rent, leaving Seoul or living in non-housing, such as a semi-basement or rooftop room, where the residential environment is very poor.
Even if it is selected as a public lease, it is still in the process of moving in.
Female in her 50s GMr. lives with his son in Mapo-gu. I have lived and lived in an officetel with a deposit of 10 million won and a monthly rent of 1 million won since 2015, but the landlord filed a lawsuit for a name because the rent was arrears and received an eviction order at the end of March this year.
GMs. is a self-employed person, and since last year, due to the corona, his income has rapidly decreased, especially recently, he says his credit status has deteriorated very much. Small shopping malls that had been seized were not even disposed of, so they were not receiving bankruptcy immunity. I divorced my husband about 10 years ago and lived with my son, but my son is in a very difficult situation because he is not in good health and has not been able to do economic activities at all. Fortunately, because of the sudden drop in income, LHI applied for a chartered rental house, and I was finally selected to search for a house of less than 60㎡. I’m looking for a loan of 110 million won and 500,000 won per monthly rent. I’m looking for a lodging facility or a jjimjilbang where I have no choice but to stay temporarily because there is no rental housing that meets the conditions before the time of eviction. I was selected as a tenant for public lease, but it is difficult to move in. What is this? Among the rental housing in the public sector, private rental housing used by private rental is not provided by LH, but LH provides a deposit loan, and the tenant must directly search for rental housing for the actual tenant to occupy in the private sector. The problem is that the loan support limit has increased by 20 million won from 90 million won in the previous year to 110 million won in the previous year, but in Mapo, the only homes that can be accessed with this deposit are in the semi-basement area, or old houses that are more than 40 years old. Landlords and realtors say that the price around them has risen and cannot be helped. Receiving high housing costs due to poor living conditions seems to be the only notification to the tenant to leave Seoul.
Public lease residents who are suspicious of arsonists
‘Social stigma’ is also one of the things that make public rental tenants difficult. Male in his 60s NMr. Lee has been living in public rental housing in Mapo-gu for about 15 years, and has been living alone for a long time. I had a lot of discomfort in my life due to my poor eyesight, but I stayed normal. However, an unexplained fire broke out in the house, and the peaceful daily life changed. The cause of the fire was not clearly identified, and as rumors of a true story that occurred due to carelessness of the person came out, we met with our center in a situation where the psychological pressure was very high. It is said that SH Corporation, the managing entity, provided a temporary stay for the households that were damaged by the fire. By the way, the house was empty for a long time, and there was already a problem with electricity and water. In particular, the boiler was still broken, so it was said that we had a very difficult winter last winter. After living in a temporary residence for more than a year, I was only waiting for the day to move to the house where the person was living. When I asked the reason, they asked me to’wait for the process of opposition from the residents’. Even though they lived in a temporary residence, they were able to renew the contract for a house that had a fire, so the parties accepted the fact that SH Corporation accepted the residents’ complaints based on rumors about’how can an arsonist can live together’ without any explanation. It was hard. Our Mapo Residential Welfare Center also tried to persuade and talk with SH Corporation and other management offices several times, as it was determined that the rights of the underprivileged could not be guaranteed. We confirmed the exact facts related to the fire with the relevant authorities such as the police and fire departments. NMr.’s resentment could be resolved. Currently, they relocated to the original house, but considering those days, the person concerned must have been unfair. What is’housing stability’ of public rental housing? Rather, I had a heavy heart to watch the anti-human rights behavior of being neglected as low-income households and poor households.
Housing egoism promotes shortage of public rental supply
This social prejudice and exclusion on public rental housing is causing a shortage of construction type public rental housing. With the announcement of the August 4th measures in 2020 and the 2nd and 4th measures in 2021, it was announced that it would build and supply more than 100,000 rental housing and pre-sale housing to Seoul, but the supply schedule was uncertain as politicians, public institutions, and residents opposed it. Due to the prevalence of local selfishness that cheap public rental housing is not allowed in the area where I live, it is very difficult to secure construction-type public rental housing that can live stably for a long time, including permanent rental housing. As the situation is like this, it is difficult for new tenants to move in unless the current tenants of public rental housing move out, so after waiting for a long period of time, you will be lucky enough to enter. I live with the inconvenience of living. We propose two things to the candidates of the mayor of Seoul. Among the many tenants residing in Seoul, we demand that a stable supply of stable public rental housing is provided for the low-income class and those who are classified as vulnerable in our society. In addition, we strongly demand that the management of public rental housing, which is currently intervened and operated, is also approached from the human rights dimension of’residence rights’, and that there is no shortage in budgeting for it. Park Jeong-yeop Director of Mapo-gu Residential Welfare Center, Seoul Residential Welfare Center Association