It has belatedly come to light that Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH Corporation) abolished extra points for housing-vulnerable groups in the recruitment of redevelopment rental housing. While the stated intent is to expand opportunities for young people and single-person households who were disadvantaged under the previous point system, critics say it runs counter to the original purpose of public rental housing, which is to ensure housing stability for vulnerable groups.

According to reporting by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 5th, when SH Corporation issued a ‘2026 Redevelopment Rental Housing Tenant Recruitment Notice’ on the 30th of last month for a total of 155 complexes and 3,421 units, it deleted the extra-point category for socially vulnerable groups starting this year.

In the application documents for this year, six of the eight extra-point items for socially vulnerable groups were removed, leaving only two items: the number of subscription savings deposits and the length of residence in Seoul.

Until last year, the application documents for SH Corporation’s redevelopment rental housing contained a total of eight extra-point items. The socially vulnerable categories included recipients of livelihood or medical benefits, victims of the Japanese military comfort women system, single-parent families, persons of national merit, North Korean defectors, nominees recommended by the heads of child welfare facilities, caregivers supporting a lineal ascendant aged 65 or older, and near-poor households. Meeting any one of these qualified an applicant for extra points. Those who had supported elderly parents for more than one year, workers in small and medium-sized manufacturing firms, and day laborers in construction were also eligible for extra points, but all of these items have been removed.

SH Corporation stated that “it improved the part that made it impossible for low-income young people and single-person households to move in due to a point system that favored older age and larger household size.” The corporation added that “the range of groups eligible to move in, including low-income young people and single-person households who were relatively disadvantaged under the previous point system, will be expanded.”

However, some argue that abolishing priority criteria for socially vulnerable groups runs counter to the purpose of supplying public rental housing. It also conflicts with the Special Act on Public Housing, which stipulates priority supply to low-income households.

Jeon Kang-su, a professor in the Department of Real Estate at Daegu Catholic University, said in a phone interview, “No matter how scarce the supply is, the principle of public rental housing to prioritize the housing-vulnerable must not be undermined,” and “if the aim is to broaden the pool of tenants to include young people or the middle class, the solution should be to increase the budget and add supply rather than reduce the share for existing vulnerable groups.”

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy also criticized in a commentary that it “not only runs counter to the purpose of supplying public rental housing but also turns a blind eye to vulnerable groups,” adding that “careful operation of the point system is important to ensure housing stability for housing-vulnerable groups.”

There were also calls to further increase the supply of public rental housing for those in the ‘blind spot of housing welfare,’ who do not receive government housing-welfare benefits but are suffering from the burden of jeonse and monthly rents.

Redevelopment rental housing refers to units among apartments built through redevelopment projects that are owned and managed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. SH Corporation has prioritized supplying them to demolition tenants who lost their homes due to redevelopment projects, and has supplied remaining vacant units to stabilize housing for low-income households.

The supply targets are 155 complexes in 20 of the 25 districts of Seoul, excluding districts such as Gangnam, Seocho, and Gwangjin. They include highly sought-after complexes such as Oksu Park Hills and Wangsimni Tenzhill in Seongdong District, as well as newly built complexes such as Imun I-Park Xi and Hwikyung Xi Decencia in Dongdaemun District, and DMC SK View I-Park Foret in Eunpyeong District. As a result, competition was fierce last year, with about 1,500 people applying for five units.

Park Geun-seok, head of the Korea Housing Welfare Research Institute, said, “It is also true that the supply of public rental housing for those in the blind spot, who are not eligible for housing or livelihood benefits but suffer from the burden of jeonse and monthly rent, has been absolutely insufficient,” adding, “the supply of rental housing for groups that have not benefited from housing welfare should also be increased.”

In response to such criticism, SH Corporation said it expects that, because eligibility is ‘those with a monthly average income at or below 50% of the income of urban workers’ (first priority), “the opportunities for socially vulnerable groups to move in will still be protected.”