Recently, as damage from rental fraud has emerged as a serious social problem, there are growing voices calling for a stronger housing security net. As an alternative, we are seeking ways to expand the supply of public rental housing, and establishing a systematic legal system to support the construction of public rental housing is a very important issue. Social housing is defined as residential rental housing allocated to achieve a purpose according to certain rules and provided below market price. It is a concept commonly used in most European countries, but recently, countries around the world are preparing different laws to provide social housing that suits their own circumstances. The United States has implemented laws to support the supply of public housing at the federal level. Recently, some state and local governments have introduced the concept of social housing and are enacting laws or ordinances to increase it as they experience rapid increases in real estate prices and serious housing shortages. The latest legislation in the United States can serve as a legislative reference in that it establishes a legal system consisting of the following four aspects on the supply side. First, a limited for-profit housing company is being established as a corporation that pursues limited profit suitable for the supply of social housing. Second, separate from the existing public housing agency, an independent agency dedicated to the provision of social housing will be established. Third, related organizations operate a revolving loan fund to raise the funds necessary for public developers to build social housing. Fourth, public developers are required to deposit a portion of the profits generated from social housing operations into a revolving loan fund and reinvest the remaining profits in social housing construction. In addition, on the demand side, beneficiaries of social housing are not limited to low-income groups but also include the middle-class.
Read full abstract