Financial authorities seek to ease eligibility for housing pension

Financial authorities seek to ease eligibility for housing pension [Source : Gettyimagesbank]

Korean financial authorities will push for a plan to widen the eligibility for housing pension, where the monthly annuity is secured by the beneficiary’s property, by raising the declared house price to less than 1.2 billion won ($1 million) from the current less than 900 million won.

The plan is designed to provide more seniors with a stable income.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) gave a partial acceptance to Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Byung-won’s argument that the upper price limit for eligibility for housing pension in the Housing Finance Corporation Act should be eased or abolished, according to a document sent by the FSC to the National Assembly on Monday.

In the document, the FSC said that the declared value should be eased from 900 million won to 1.2 billion won to ensure a stable post-retirement income base for more senior citizens, considering the rising trend of the house price, adding it is desirable to gradually adjust the eligibility requirements rather than drastically easing them to meet the purpose of the housing pension.

The declared price of less than 900 million won is not even close to the median sales price of apartments in Seoul. The number of apartments with a declared value exceeding 900 million won climbed by 247 percent to 757,000 units last year from 218,000 units in 2019.