South Korea's Lee promises mass public rental housing using excess tax revenue
In short
President Lee Jae-myung said on 5 October that excess tax revenue will be used to supply public long-term rental housing for young people and the middle class early and in large quantities, in posts on X. He attributed recent housing price instability to a sharp fall in housing permits centred on Seoul between 2022 and 2025, and said permits are now rising about 50% year-on-year. He said he instructed the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to commit to buying unsold units for rental use.
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President Lee Jae-myung said on 5 October that excess tax revenue would be used to supply public long-term rental housing for young people and the middle class early and in large quantities, in posts on X. Kukmin Ilbo, Korea Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun all reported the remarks, with Kukmin Ilbo describing him as declaring the normalisation of the real estate market. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Lee attributed short-term housing price instability to a sharp fall in housing permits centred on Seoul between 2022 and 2025, which he said cut supply with a time lag. He said permits and construction starts had increased substantially and were accelerating recently, along with new housing-site development and the conversion of existing sites and buildings to residential use, so more supply would follow soon. Korea Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun both reported this diagnosis. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
He said housing permits were up about 50% from a year earlier and that he had instructed the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to commit to buying unsold units for rental use, saying some developers were hesitating to break ground after receiving permits for fear of unsold homes. [ 3 ]
Lee said housing construction in Seoul and the capital region would produce two effects at once: bringing scarce housing to the market sooner and reviving construction activity, which he described as the domestic demand stimulus the economy most needed. He called escaping the “real estate republic” a national task and said his government would keep that promise. [ 3 ]
Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that by 6 p.m. Lee had posted 10 times that day, five of them on real estate, housing supply and farmland surveys, on a day when a substitute holiday left him with no public schedule. [ 3 ]
The documents do not state how much excess tax revenue would be used, how many homes would be supplied or when they would come to market, and they give no terms for the LH purchase commitment. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
The comments set out the government's stated approach to easing housing supply shortages in Seoul and the capital region, where the president said permits had dropped sharply. Lee framed faster construction as serving two purposes at once: bringing housing to market sooner and reviving construction activity as domestic demand stimulus. The documents do not give the funding total, unit numbers or a schedule for any of the measures.
Key facts
- Lee said on 5 October that excess tax revenue would be used to supply public long-term rental housing for young people and the middle class early and in large quantities. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Lee said the main cause of short-term housing price instability was a sharp decline in housing permits centred on Seoul from 2022 to 2025. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Lee said housing permits are increasing by about 50% compared with a year earlier. [ 3 ]
- Lee said he instructed LH to commit to buying unsold units for use as rental housing, because some developers hesitate to start construction after receiving permits for fear of unsold homes. [ 3 ]
- Lee said housing construction in Seoul and the capital region would both supply scarce housing sooner and boost construction-related domestic demand. [ 3 ]
- Lee called escaping the “real estate republic” a national task and said his government would keep that promise. [ 3 ]
- By 6 p.m. on 5 October, Lee had posted 10 times on X that day, five of them on real estate, housing supply and farmland surveys. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Lee announced that excess tax revenue would be used for an early, large-scale supply of public long-term rental housing for young people and the middle class. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Lee identified the sharp fall in housing permits from 2022, centred on Seoul, as the main cause of recent housing price instability. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- How much excess tax revenue would be used and how many homes the plan would supply. No document gives figures for funding or unit numbers.
- Terms of the LH purchase commitment, such as the volume or price of unsold units to be bought. Only the president's description of the instruction is reported, by a single outlet.
- Whether the measures have been finalised and how they would be implemented, including any schedule. The documents report the president's posts but no decisions or timetable.
- The statement that housing permits rose about 50% year-on-year. The figure appears in the president's post as reported by one outlet and is not repeated elsewhere.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo reports that Lee declared the normalisation of real estate and a plan to use excess tax revenue for an early, large-scale supply of public long-term rental housing. [ 1 ]
- Korea Economic Daily reports Lee's remarks linking housing price instability to the plunge in housing permits since 2022. [ 2 ]
- By 6 p.m., Lee had published 10 posts on X that day, five of them dealing with real estate, housing supply and farmland surveys. [ 3 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes its report on the posts, including the instruction to LH on buying unsold units. [ 3 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun publishes a second report carrying the same core remarks on rental housing supply. [ 4 ]