Seoul City Expands Support for Young People's Housing Burden Relief through Brokerage Fees and Moving Costs

Seoul City announced on the 11th that it will expand the 'support for young people's real estate brokerage fees and moving costs' project to alleviate the economic burden on the disadvantaged youth living in poor housing conditions.

In addition to the 6,000 applicants selected in the first half of this year, an additional 4,000 will be selected in the second half, allowing a total of 10,000 young people to benefit annually.

Eligible applicants are young people aged 19 to 39 who have moved to Seoul or relocated within Seoul since January 1, 2023. Applicants must be the head of household as recorded in their resident registration and be a tenant as stated in the lease agreement.

Young people with a cohabitant registered in their resident registration can also apply, but those living in parent-owned houses or those receiving livelihood, medical, or housing benefits under the National Basic Living Security Act are excluded from support.

Eligibility requires residents living in housing with a transaction amount under 200 million KRW, and the health insurance premium assessed in July 2023 for the applicant's household must be 150% or less of the median income (3,589,000 KRW before tax for a single-person household).

For dependents of health insurance, eligibility is determined based on the health insurance premium assessed for the primary insured person. The transaction amount is calculated by multiplying the monthly rent by 100 and then adding the security deposit. For example, with a security deposit of 100 million KRW and a monthly rent of 700,000 KRW, the transaction amount would be 170 million KRW.

Application Method and Selection Criteria

Applications will be accepted online at the Youth Mongtang Information Center (youth.seoul.go.kr) from 10 AM on the 12th to 6 PM on the 25th.

If the number of applicants exceeds the available positions, Seoul City plans to prioritize support for socially vulnerable groups and youth at risk of housing instability, followed by selection based on income level.

After a document review and eligibility verification, qualified candidates will be selected in October, with an appeal and document supplementation period of 10 days, and final beneficiaries will be announced in December.

Analysis of the 5,735 individuals selected as support recipients in the first half of the year revealed that the average support amount per person was 337,860 KRW. This represents a 7.2% increase compared to the average support amount of 315,000 KRW provided to 17,974 recipients from 2022 to 2024.

According to an analysis of 8,547 applicants in the first half of the year, 90.5% were single-person households, and 68.5% were in their twenties, the largest demographic group. Additionally, 69% lived in one-room apartments, and 76.1% resided in housing with a usable area of less than 30.0㎡. By district, Gwanak-gu had the highest percentage at 16%, while Jung-gu had the lowest at 1.4%.

Kim Cheol-hee, the Commissioner of the Future Youth Planning Office of Seoul City, stated, "Considering the difficulties faced by young people burdened with issues such as the damage caused by rent fraud, childcare, and family care during a crucial time in their dreams and future, we are progressively expanding the support target. We will continue to identify blind spots in youth policy to ensure that no one is left behind and broaden the scope of support."

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