South Korean govt to turn vacant hotels, offices into homes for rental

SEOUL (Nov 19): The South Korean government will be offering 114,000 rental units for the public by acquiring and converting unoccupied hotels and offices into residential studios.

This is to address the shortage in housing amid skyrocketing rents and the increasing difficulty for single and young renters to find affordable units, according to a report by Reuters.

In a press conference today, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mee said the hotels will be turned into affordable, high-quality homes for singles.

The country has failed to cool down the soaring house prices despite a series of measures taken by President Moon Jae-in's administration since 2017.

In August, the country announced several measures to supply over 132,000 new homes in Seoul by relaxing building height limits and transforming military sites and other state-owned properties into residential areas. These premises include state-owned Taereung golf course, military base Camp Kim in central Seoul as well as a driving test centre in western Seoul.

However, the attempts were unable to quickly solve home shortage problems.

According to official figures, the number of households with only one person increased 18% to 6.15 million in 2019 compared to 2015. This 2019 number accounts for over 30% of South Korea’s total number of households. In 2015, the percentage was 27.2%.

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