Long-term vacancies in public rental housing have resulted in over 167 billion won in rent losses over the past five years.
According to data analyzed by Democratic Party lawmaker Hwang Hee (Seoul Yangcheon-gap), which was submitted by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), the total rent loss from properties vacant for more than a year from 2021 to 2025 amounted to 167.032 billion won.
The annual rent losses were recorded at 27 billion won in 2021, 25.7 billion won in 2022, 33.8 billion won in 2023, 40.5 billion won in 2024, and 39.8 billion won in 2025. Compared to 2021, the losses in 2025 increased by approximately 47.2%.
By rental type, the loss from national rental housing was the highest at 77.564 billion won, accounting for 46.4% of the total. This was followed by happy housing at 43.368 billion won (26.0%), public rental at 26.386 billion won (15.8%), and permanent rental at 19.678 billion won (11.8%).
Notably, the rent losses from happy housing, aimed at young people and newlywed couples, have significantly increased, rising from 5.7 billion won in 2021 to 12.5 billion won in 2025, more than doubling.
As of August 2026, the number of vacant public rental homes managed by LH is substantial. Out of a total of 976,949 public rental units, 38,681 homes have been vacant for more than six months, representing 4.0% of the total.
Among these, 16,217 homes have been vacant for six months to less than a year, while 22,464 homes have been long-term vacancies of over a year.
The issue of vacancies is particularly pronounced in happy housing. Of the 150,496 happy housing units, 15,496 have been vacant for more than six months, resulting in a vacancy rate of 10.1%, which is 2.5 times higher than the average vacancy rate for all public rentals.
Following happy housing, permanent rental has a vacancy rate of 4.2% (7,071 homes), public rental at 2.5% (1,983 homes), and national rental at 2.4% (13,918 homes).
LH has analyzed that the causes of long-term vacancies in public rental housing are multifaceted, including the location of new development areas on the outskirts of urban centers, lack of transportation and living infrastructure, low demand for small-sized units, aging housing and facilities, and oversupply of private rental housing in nearby areas.
Lawmaker Hwang Hee emphasized the need to create living environments that meet the preferences of actual demanders, rather than merely increasing the supply of public rental units. He stated, “It is a serious waste of public funds and a blind spot in housing welfare that public rental housing, which has been supplied with a large budget for the stability of young people and low-income families, is being overlooked, leading to hundreds of billions of won in rent losses.”
He further urged a shift away from simply filling supply quotas to improving the quality of rental housing that people actually want to live in, including securing locations in urban centers, merging and redeveloping less desirable small units, and enhancing living conditions.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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