Korea Housing Benefit: Rent & Repair Eligibility Calculator

Korean housing benefit: rental support and home repairs

Housing benefit considers a household’s recognized income, assets, housing tenure and actual housing costs under Korean rules.
Renters may receive rental support, while people who own and occupy their home may qualify for repair support after a housing survey.
Rental and repair benefits are not added together for the same household’s home.

Use this calculator before a lease renewal to estimate remaining monthly rent, or when preparing a repair application for an owner-occupied home.
It does not determine admission to public rental housing or mortgage eligibility.
Entering a prospective home creates a planning scenario rather than an award for that home.
All amounts are KRW and all legal thresholds are for Korea in 2026.

Recognized income is not the same as salary

The benefit household may differ from a simple count of people on a resident registration document.
Spouses, unmarried children living elsewhere and special separate-household arrangements may need official review.
The absence of a family-support-obligation test does not mean the applicant household’s own income and assets are ignored.
Leave the confirmation box unchecked until the household and amount have been confirmed.

An unknown amount and a genuine zero are different inputs.
Enter 0 when a lease has no deposit, and leave the amount blank when you do not know it.
A pending calculation does not mean a zero benefit or an instruction to abandon an application.

2026 household income thresholds

The housing benefit threshold is 48% of Korea’s standard median income in 2026.
Recognized monthly income at or below the relevant published amount passes this income comparison.
The separate 32% livelihood threshold determines whether rental self-contribution applies.
The 40% threshold divides two repair support bands.

The housing threshold is 1,230,834 KRW for one person and 3,117,474 KRW for four people.
Equality is included; one won above the threshold exceeds the ordinary income condition.
For eight and nine people, add the difference between the seven- and six-person thresholds for each extra person.
The calculator supports one to nine people; larger households should obtain an individual calculation from the local office.

Regional rent caps limit the calculation

The reference rent is an upper limit based on current location and household size, not a promise to cover all rent.
Seoul is zone 1; Gyeonggi and Incheon are zone 2; other metropolitan cities, Sejong and special cities outside the capital region are zone 3; remaining areas are zone 4.
Incheon belongs to zone 2 even though it is a metropolitan city.

Seven-person households use the six-person rent cap.
Eight- and nine-person households receive a 10% increase on that cap: 768,900 KRW in Seoul, for example.
Recheck the region and household after a move or household change instead of reusing an old result.

Rental benefit formula and payment exceptions

1. Assessed rent: monthly contractual rent + deposit × 4% per year ÷ 12.
   Exclude management and utility charges.
   A 10,000,000 KRW deposit contributes approximately 33,333 KRW per month; intermediate fractions remain in the calculation.
   
2. Starting amount: take the smaller of assessed rent and the regional household rent cap.
   Rent above the cap is not fully reimbursed.
   
3. Self-contribution: subtract max(0, recognized income − livelihood threshold) × 30%.
   There is no contribution at or below the livelihood threshold.
   
4. Minimum and rounding: for an otherwise eligible ordinary lease, apply a minimum of 10,000 KRW and round the payment up to 10 KRW.
   The minimum is not an entitlement for excluded leases or households over the income threshold.
   

Worked rental example: one person in Seoul

This is a fictional verification example, not a benefit award.
Assessed rent includes the converted deposit, while remaining cash rent starts from the contractual monthly payment.
Any benefit above monthly rent is shown separately as deposit-related support; it does not reimburse the entire deposit principal.
If management fees are 50,000 KRW, budget for them separately.

Repair support is a surveyed improvement, not a selectable cash grant

An owner-occupier’s ownership, actual residence and the home’s structural, equipment and finishing condition are reviewed.
Selecting a larger renovation quote does not establish the heavy-repair category.
The three displayed amounts are alternative reference ceilings before the housing survey determines one repair scope.
They must not be added together or divided into an annual or monthly cash allowance.

The ordinary cycles are three, five and seven years for light, medium and heavy repairs respectively.
Emergency repairs and annual repair plans involve separate decisions, so this tool does not predict a construction date.
Work for a new recipient may begin in the following year or later.

Repair support percentages and the island uplift

• At or below the livelihood threshold: 100% of the standard repair amount.
  
• Above the livelihood threshold and at or below 40% of median income: 90%.
  
• Above 40% and at or below the 48% housing threshold: 80%.
  

Simply living on an island does not establish entitlement to the uplift; confirm road access and the applicable location.
Additional accessibility work for disabled or older residents and flood-protection work have separate conditions and are not automatically added here.
The actual scope depends on assessed needs and site conditions.

Situations requiring individual review

The special-case option deliberately keeps the payment pending.
It signals that the ordinary formula is insufficient, rather than deciding that the household cannot receive support.
Arrears, refusal of investigations, reporting a changed lease and later payment adjustments also require separate review.

How to use the result and prepare an application

1. Confirm household size and monthly recognized income with the local office, then select your current region.
   
2. For a renter, enter the lease deposit and monthly rent separately, excluding management charges.
   For an owner, select owner-occupation and check whether an exceptional home or benefit status requires review.
   
3. Read the estimated rental payment and remaining cash rent, or the repair percentage and alternative ceilings.
   Replace every fictional example amount with your own confirmed figures.
   
4. Save the result and checklist as a TXT file.
   Ask which identification, application, income/assets declaration, financial-information consent, lease or ownership documents are required for your case.
   
5. Apply through the administrative welfare office for your registered address or Bokjiro and respond to the investigation requests.
   The downloaded file is neither an application submission nor a payment decision.
   

Before renewal, compare a changed rent as a scenario; after signing, confirm reporting and adjustment requirements.
If helping a parent, record the date of the income evidence and any previous repair work to make the consultation more useful.
Inputs are not transmitted externally; saving creates a text file on your own device.

Frequently asked questions