A Study on the Measures to Enhance the Social Housing Provision in Korea: Focused on Using the Vacant and Underutilized Spaces in the Traditional Market

Abstract

Korean social housing has been born under a social awareness that affordable housing should be provided for the deprived group of the society including the youths under poverty level. Though the Korean social housing has been much successful in providing the affordable rental housing, one of the most urgent problem yet is its absolute shortage. The study, in this context, tries to crosscheck the survey responses from both the provider-side and the tenant-side of the social housing. The tenant survey had been done by the Min-Snail Housing Cooperative. The provider-side survey, on the other hand, had been jointly performed by: the Korean Center for City and Environment Research; the Korea Institute for a New Society; and the Institute of Land and Liberty. The feasibility analysis of the sublet-type social housing project has also been conducted using the underutilized building spaces in Junggok traditional market in Seoul. Since the rent of the second floors in such traditional markets is only 20% of that of the first floors, the traditional markets are seen to have high potential in vitalizing the social housing. It also has been found that the profitability of the social housing project starts with considerable deficits at its early stage, but, as time passes by, it is seen to improve dramatically, following a parabolic curve (by quadratic equation).