Seoul, South Korea – The Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) has announced plans to purchase over 50,000 newly constructed rental homes this year in an effort to alleviate the country's housing shortage and stabilize the rental market.

Aligned with the government's ambitious housing supply expansion plan unveiled in August last year, LH has been working diligently to meet its increased purchase targets. To achieve this, the corporation has bolstered its dedicated workforce and introduced various incentives for businesses. As a result, LH has successfully acquired 34,301 units in the metropolitan area, representing 87% of the target of 39,492 units.

To expedite the project, LH launched its 2025 new rental housing announcement on January 2nd, two months earlier than the previous year. The corporation has further strengthened its organization and workforce and has also revised its purchase criteria to ensure a swift process.

LH is implementing a comprehensive strategy to accelerate the construction and supply of these new rental homes. This includes establishing a dedicated "Rental Housing Business Division" in the metropolitan area headquarters. This division will have specialized teams focused on early construction support and quality control, streamlining the process from purchase to completion.

Furthermore, LH has significantly increased its dedicated staff for rental housing projects in the metropolitan area from 87 to 228 last year, and plans to further expand this to 272 this year.

To stimulate the new rental housing business, LH will apply a construction cost-linked method for projects involving 50 or more units in the metropolitan area. The corporation is also relaxing purchase quantity criteria and expanding specialized rental housing business operator competitions to encourage more private sector participation.

Under the construction cost-linked method, land prices are determined through appraisal, while building costs are calculated by external cost calculation agencies. This ensures that the construction costs of private businesses are accurately reflected in the purchase price.

Additionally, LH has introduced various measures to ensure the timely construction and high quality of these homes, including customized design and construction standards for non-apartment units and standard design plans to reduce design time.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]