Seoul to step up support for single people with cheaper co-living units

Single people now make up over a third of the South Korean capital’s households. - AFP

SEOUL: The Seoul government will provide more affordable rental housing for single people in the form of co-living spaces, as the number of solo households in South Korea rapidly increases.

The rooms will be offered at rates up to 50% cheaper than market rates, with six-year leases for people from age 19 to 39 and maximum 10 years for people over 40, according to a statement from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The units will be built in sites that are located near subway stations, major roads and health care facilities to meet demands from different groups of people. The city government will give incentives to developers to build such homes, including relaxing the floor area ratio cap to as much as 500% by adjusting current zoning regulations.

"Two out of five homes will be a one-person household in Seoul in 2030, and it’s just five years away,” Byeongyong Han, head of the Office of Housing Policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in the statement. "It’s time to implement housing support for single-person households.”

Single people now make up over a third of the South Korean capital’s households, as fewer people get married and a rapidly ageing population means many older people are living by themselves.

Solo households are expected to make up the majority of the country’s households by 2050, according to Statistics Korea. - Bloomberg