Ninety percent of Seoul apartment lease renewals see higher deposits, with 17% rising by more than 100 million won

Nearly nine out of 10 Seoul apartment lease renewals in July that did not use the tenant’s contract-renewal right came with a higher deposit than the previous contract.

An analysis of data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s transaction disclosure system found 2,097 renewals that did not use the right among 4,607 renewal contracts whose previous agreements were also apartment leases. Deposits rose in 1,837 cases, or 87.6%. They stayed unchanged in 236 cases and fell in 24.

The average deposit for renewals without use of the right reached 560.49 million won, up 46.78 million won, or 9.1%, from the previous average of 513.71 million won. That increase was about 1.7 times the average 27.58 million won rise recorded when tenants used the renewal right.

The right allows a tenant to request a two-year extension once. The figures point to a heavier deposit burden for tenants as Seoul’s rent-deposit market continues to rise.