Seoul mayor race's biggest battleground: Both candidates promise 300,000 homes, but how?

With Seoul's apartment market experiencing a "triple surge" — simultaneous increases in sales prices, jeonse and monthly rent — housing campaign pledges from the ruling and opposition Seoul mayoral candidates are drawing intense attention. Both candidates pledge to break ground on more than 300,000 homes by 2031, stressing the urgency of faster supply, but their approaches diverge. Democratic Party of Korea candidate Jeong Won-ho is emphasizing a "public conductor" role, while People Power Party candidate Oh Se-hoon stresses a "private-sector support" role.

Jeong's signature pledge is the "Seoul Residential 3136+ Step-by-Step Portfolio." The plan centers on breaking ground on 360,000 homes through urban renewal projects by 2031 — a vision he calls "step-by-step development." He proposes amending the Act on the Maintenance and Improvement of Urban Areas and Dwelling Conditions to cut the renewal project timeline to a maximum of 10 years and to dispatch dedicated professional managers — civil servants — directly under the mayor to each project zone. Currently, part-time staff handle coordination duties for renewal projects.

He also pledged to transfer authority over small-scale project sites of fewer than 500 units to autonomous district offices, with the aim of having the public sector lead and support faster project execution through stronger on-site management by licensing authorities. To that end, he added that he would pursue the current government's non-apartment supply initiatives in parallel and work to revitalize public redevelopment and urban public mixed-use projects.

Oh, by contrast, has continued to campaign on "Sintonghyeok Season 2.0," a program he ran during his previous term. The plan aims to accelerate private-sector renewal projects by streamlining licensing procedures, with a target of breaking ground on 310,000 homes by 2031. Of those, 85,000 units would be designated as priority strategic renewal zones within the first three years of his term and fast-tracked for ground-breaking. Under this scenario, the renewal project timeline would be cut from the current 20-plus years to 12 years.

To achieve this, Oh said he would pursue three complementary initiatives: "Rapid Integration," which allows projects to skip the preparatory committee stage and move directly to association formation; "Sintonghyeok 120," a phone-consultation renewal project advisory service; and "Sintonghyeok AI Planning," which uses AI to support legal review and renewal plan development.

For the Gangbuk area, where project viability is limited, he unveiled six deregulation incentives to improve the feasibility of redeveloping aging complexes: upzoning of growth-potential zones, expansion of the pre-negotiation system, expansion of transit-oriented area projects in Gangbuk, urban mixed-use development special provisions (conditional floor-area ratio of up to 1,300 percent), introduction of a project viability correction coefficient, and abolition of height restrictions in altitude-designated districts. He also proposed establishing a renewal project relocation real estate investment trust to supply 100,000 units of dedicated relocation housing in anticipation of displacement demand from increased renewal activity.

On public rental housing, the two candidates' pledges show little difference in terms of volume.

Jeong set a minimum target of 130,000 public rental units by 2031, comprising 50,000 newly purchased rental homes, 50,000 units through permanent rental complex reconstruction (six sites) and dormitories, and 30,000 units for newlywed couples.

On top of that, he put forward a residential welfare pledge to provide an average of about 3 million won ($1,990) in repair subsidies — totaling 120 billion won — to help roughly 40,000 substandard dwellings such as basement rooms and rooftop rooms become proper homes. Rent increases following renovation would be capped for six years.

He also said he would expand the Seongdong-Hanyang cooperative dormitory model — a public-supported private rental arrangement in which Korea Land and Housing Corp. covers the deposit while autonomous districts and universities subsidize monthly rent — to 20,000 units in partnership with the Seoul Housing and Communities Corp.

For non-homeowners, Jeong said he would introduce "Silsok Housing," offering public housing generated through renewal projects in multiple ownership formats — equity-accumulation, profit-sharing and land-lease — as pre-sale options.

Jeong said he would "combine private-sector vitality with public accountability to create an environment where any Seoul resident can live stably," highlighting as a key advantage his ability to negotiate necessary legislative amendments with the ruling party.

Oh's campaign materials list 123,000 public rental units, 106,000 long-term jeonse units and 74,000 units under the "Dream Home" youth and newlywed housing ladder program.

However, Oh has gone further by naming and detailing specific public housing options available for pre-sale. He pledged to supply affordable housing under a "Baro Naejip" model that includes land-lease "half-price apartments" (priced at 50 percent or less of market price, with residency of up to 40 years) and installment-plan apartments requiring only a 20 percent upfront payment.

Oh also said he would establish a tentatively named Youth Asset-Building Fund from development gains, under which buyers paying just 20 percent of the home price — with Seoul Housing and Communities Corp. covering the remaining 80 percent — could become homeowners. He pledged to supply more than 2,000 units annually, for a total of 8,000 units over four years, with jeonse and monthly rental arrangements excluded.

For university students and young professionals, he pledged to supply 10,000 "Saessak Studio" units with deposit support of up to 30 million won. Under the scheme, Seoul Housing and Communities Corp. contracts directly with landlords near university campuses and then subleases the units to incoming students — a measure also included in the youth-tailored housing stability plan Seoul announced in March.

"True urban growth is a structure where young people's assets grow alongside the city," Oh said. "I will build a system that channels development gains into the assets of future generations."