South Korea plans to provide 2.7 million new homes over 5 years

Government says it will supply 500,000 homes in the Seoul area over five-year period.

Apartment buildings in Gimpo, South Korea.
South Korea's new government has unveiled plans to supply 2.7 million new homes across the country over the next five years [File: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg]

South Korea’s new government has unveiled plans to supply 2.7 million new homes across the country over the next five years, including hundreds of thousands of properties in big cities where a short supply has been blamed for rapid price rises.

The government plans to supply 500,000 homes in the Seoul area over the five-year period, a more than 50 percent increase from the amount supplied in the past five years, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement on Tuesday.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who started his single five-year term in early May, has promised to increase home supply in high-demand areas, criticising his predecessor’s policy of discouraging home purchases in the capital area.

The land ministry also said it would supply another 520,000 new homes in other big cities over the next five years.

It added the government would provide various financial, administrative and tax advantages to young people and lower income-earners when they buy or rent homes.

Source: Reuters