SH reissues notice for 3,821 redevelopment rental units, subscriptions to open Sept. 29

The Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation, or SH, will recruit occupants and preliminary occupants for 3,821 redevelopment rental housing units. The recruitment, originally announced in late July, was postponed and is now being relaunched under revised occupant-selection criteria.

SH said Wednesday at 4 p.m. that it had issued a notice for the redevelopment rental housing recruitment and that subscription applications will be accepted starting Sept. 29. The units on offer total 3,821 — comprising 1,675 leftover vacant units across 162 complexes and 2,146 units reserved for preliminary occupants.

The reissued notice replaces the "2026 Redevelopment Rental Housing Occupant Recruitment Notice," which was first announced July 30 and then postponed Aug. 10. At the time, SH cited the need to more fully reflect social consideration factors following a change to its scoring criteria, prompting the delay.

In the reissued notice, scoring for socially vulnerable groups has been restored, but age-based points have been eliminated. The change is intended to expand move-in opportunities for low-income young people, who were relatively disadvantaged under the previous scoring system.

The redevelopment rental units being offered this round are first provided to tenants displaced by redevelopment demolition, with any remaining vacancies opened to general applicants. All units are small, with an exclusive use area of 39 square meters or less.

General applicants must be members of non-homeowning households residing in Seoul as of Wednesday, the date the notice was issued. Eligibility is limited to households earning up to 70 percent of the average monthly income for urban workers, with first-priority applicants capped at 50 percent and second-priority applicants at 70 percent. Total household assets must not exceed 345 million won ($257,000), and the value of any vehicle owned must not exceed 45.42 million won.

Applications will be accepted online and via mobile app. First-priority applicants may apply from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2, while second-priority applicants may apply on Oct. 8. If the number of first-priority applicants exceeds 200 percent of the available units, the second-priority application period will not be held.

In-person applications will also be available for elderly and disabled applicants and others who have difficulty using the internet. These can be submitted at the large auditorium on the second floor of SH's headquarters from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.

Applicants selected for document screening will be announced Oct. 23, with final winners to be announced March 30, 2027. Move-in is expected around April 2027.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to gradually reclaim long-term jeonse housing units as their 20-year terms expire, starting with 310 units reaching maturity next year, and reissue them to new occupants through 2031, when the total reclaimed will reach 9,300 units. Long-term jeonse housing accounts for about 12 percent of the public rental housing held by SH in Seoul, with roughly 38,296 units supplied to date.