Households with children under 2 eligible for newborn special supply regardless of marriage duration

Households with a child under 2 will be able to apply for a newborn special supply when subscribing to privately built apartments, even if they have been married for more than seven years.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced Sunday that it will implement a revised version of the Housing Supply Rules on Monday, which establishes a separate newborn special supply category for private apartment subscriptions.

Under the previous system, a portion of the special supply quota for newlyweds or first-time homebuyers in private apartment subscriptions was set aside for households with newborns. However, households that did not meet the "within seven years of marriage registration" requirement for the newlywed special supply were excluded from the newborn priority and general supply pools, even if they had a child under 2. The newborn household share stood at 8 percent of the newlywed special supply allocation of 23 percent.

Public housing subscriptions — including publicly developed pre-sale units — already have a separate newborn special supply category alongside the newlywed and first-time homebuyer categories.

Starting Monday, a newborn special supply category accounting for 10 percent of units will be introduced for privately built apartments as well, broadening subscription opportunities for households with newborns regardless of how long they have been married.

Eligibility extends to houseless households that include a child under 2 — including unborn children and adopted children — and applicants must meet income or asset thresholds. The income ceiling mirrors that of the first-time homebuyer special supply, set at 130 to 160 percent of the previous year's average monthly urban worker household income. The category will operate in three tiers: priority supply (50 percent), general supply (20 percent) and lottery supply (30 percent).

Alongside this, the ministry is revising the region-tailored supply framework to allow local governments to provide housing more quickly to workers at companies relocating to regional areas.

Previously, such workers could apply through the institutional recommendation special supply managed by local governments, which covers 10 percent of total units. But the eligible pool was narrow and supply criteria were set by ministerial notice, making it difficult for local governments to respond flexibly to regional conditions. Going forward, local governments will be able to add special supply targets and streamline procedures to attract businesses and encourage population inflows in line with local demand.

Jang Woo-cheol, the ministry's housing policy director, said the rule revision "puts in place mechanisms to expand subscription opportunities for households with newborns and improve settlement conditions for companies relocating to regional areas." He added that the ministry "will do its utmost to redesign the incentive structure so that marriage and childbirth become advantages in housing subscriptions and regional areas receive preferential treatment."