Korea Land and Housing Corp. to extend jeonse deposit protection to 200,000 homes from October

Starting Oct. 1, about 200,000 jeonse rental homes supplied by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) will be covered by Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation's (HUG) jeonse deposit return guarantee, bolstering protections for residents' deposits.

LH announced Friday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with HUG on jeonse deposit return guarantees for jeonse rental housing, with full application of the HUG guarantee scheme set to begin Oct. 1.

Under the jeonse rental housing system — a residential welfare regime in which tenants choose a home and LH signs a jeonse contract with the landlord before subletting it to the tenant at a reduced rate — LH has required guarantee insurance enrollment for jeonse lease contracts in accordance with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport directives.

The two institutions agreed to link jeonse rental data under the MOU to strengthen the guarantee management system, covering everything from enrollment to post-contract oversight.

In addition, the Ansim Jeonse app, a government-run platform for jeonse safety checks, will provide advance information on whether a landlord has been barred from HUG guarantees and on property rights analysis. The two organizations also plan to overhaul the system so that lease information related to tenant protection rights, previously scattered across multiple agencies, can be viewed at a glance through the app.

"The agreement with HUG has allowed us to strengthen the deposit protection system for jeonse rental housing and improve convenience for residents," LH President Lee Seong-hun said. "We will continue building a residential safety net where people can live with peace of mind."

HUG President Choi In-ho called the agreement "a cooperation model to protect the deposits of housing-vulnerable groups and invigorate the supply of public rental housing," adding that the corporation would "fulfill its role as a pillar of residential stability for the public."

Meanwhile, LH said it would tighten sanctions against companies with wage and payment arrears and strengthen on-site supervision as part of a drive to eliminate unpaid wages and construction payments. The corporation also plans to disburse about 591.6 billion won ($432 million) in construction payments due across 361 sites before the Chuseok holiday.