Public Rental Housing Security Deposit Defaults Reported

In a social housing project in Yeonnam-dong, Seoul, which received public funding, residents are facing the failure to recover approximately 100 million won in security deposits due to the mismanagement of a private operator. This social housing project was developed and operated by a private entity on land invested in with public funds from the government (80 billion won from HUG) and Seoul Metropolitan Government (40 billion won from SH). Ten out of 20 households whose contracts have ended have not received their security deposits back.

The representative of the social housing project, who lost the ability to refund deposits, has been unreachable for the past month.

The Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG), aware of the situation, announced in February that it is reviewing options with related agencies like SH to pay out victims' deposits. However, significant delays are expected in decision-making as a REIT, rather than a public institution, is involved as the landowner.