Housing Rent Amount to be Set by Mayors and Governors, the Ruling Party Introduces a New Proposal in South Korea

2020-7-20, Chosun Ilbo [TRANSLATION]

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According to the amendment to the Housing Basic Act (주거기본법) and the Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법) posted on the National Assembly homepage on July 20, 2020, (introduced by National Assemblyman Yun Ho-jung 윤호중, Democratic Party of Korea), when citizens rent their houses in the future, they must use the “standard rental rate” decided by their [respective] mayors and governors for the monthly rent or the jeonse deposit [a large amount that is deposited in lieu of much smaller monthly rent; this deposit is refundable upon move out].  This means that contracts that have higher rates than the standard rental rates will be void.

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The contract period was “2 years,” but it could be extended to “6 years,” depending on the tenant’s preferences.

In addition to Assemblyman Yun Ho-jung, also participating were other Democratic Party lawmakers Yoon Ho-deok (윤후덕), Lee Hack-young (이학영), Youn Kwan-suk (윤관석), Lim Ho-seon (임호선), Kim Jong-min (김종민), Kim Sung-whan (김성환), Kim Jung-ho (김정호), Kim Young-bae (김영배), Jang Kyung-tae (장경태), and Choi In-ho (최인호).

They provided the following reasons for introducing the proposal:  The recent rise in the market price of Jeonse is because “the state’s responsibility in the rental price increase is unclear and there is no standard for the scope of rent increase.”
Source:  https://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/07/20/2020072003162.html