Gyeonggi Province Proposal Enables Public Rental Housing Allocation for Young Adults Aging Out of Care

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Housing & Urban Development Corporation (GH) announced on the 21st that they plan to prioritize the allocation of approximately 100 units from public rental housing supply to 'young adults aging out of care' who must leave child welfare facilities after turning 18.

This is the first time Gyeonggi Province has prioritized public rental housing allocation for young adults aging out of care.

According to Gyeonggi Province, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 28th of last month a revised guideline for 'Jeonse Housing Support for Adolescent-Headed Households' that adds local public corporations as operators of the young adults aging out of care housing stability support project, which had been limited to the Korea Land & Housing Organization (LH).

This revision reflects the provincial government's proposal that public rental housing allocation is necessary for young adults aging out of care. Following the guideline revision, Gyeonggi Province recently completed consultations with GH regarding the allocation of housing units for young adults aging out of care.

In the province, approximately 400 young people leave child care facilities annually when their protective measures end after turning 18. However, about half of them reside with foster families or relatives and have not secured a housing foundation.

Under the previous guidelines, beneficiaries of jeonse housing for adolescent-headed households were limited to LH, so supply was only provided through LH project volumes.

Following the announcement of this revision, GH, as a local public corporation, now participates as a project operator, enabling Gyeonggi Province to allocate public rental housing units to meet regional needs.

While allocation of public rental housing through Gyeonggi Province and GH had been difficult previously, starting with 100 units, supply volumes are expected to increase gradually.

In particular, Gyeonggi Province is also reviewing coordination methods with existing projects including ▲interest support projects for housing-vulnerable groups ▲jeonse deposit support projects ▲housing improvement projects, alongside public rental housing supply.

Yeom Jun-ho, director of the Housing Policy Division at Gyeonggi Province, said, "With this revision, active responses tailored to local circumstances through Gyeonggi Province's Housing Welfare Center have become possible," and added, "Going forward, we will focus our capabilities on improving housing conditions for children and youth by proposing measures to strengthen the capacity and functions of housing welfare centers to the central government."