Seoul occupancy: city adapts to accommodate its singletons

Rising number of people, both young and old, living alone in South Korea’s capital has led developers to build smaller homes

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Inside northern Seoul’s red-brick Arko gallery, trendy young Seoulites contemplate whitewashed models of contemporary — and compact — housing. Part of South Korea’s contribution to the 15th Venice Biennale, the display is an appreciation of the city’s urban architects, while bemoaning its unimaginative mass housing developments.

The exhibition touches a collective nerve. In Seoul, space is limited, and housing is expensive. Homes are also shrinking as households get smaller, due to falling birth and marriage rates. In 1990, the average household size was 3.7; by 2016 it was just 2.5. Half the country now lives alone or with one other person.As the country’s political and cultural core, Seoul leads the trend. According to agency Savills, 83 per cent of homes sold in 2016 were less than 85 sq metres; 12 per cent were below 40 sq metres.“Apartments are definitely getting smaller,” says Jini Choi of Seoul-based agency Apex Relocation. “Fifteen years ago houses of around 148 sq metres were most popular. Then after the financial crash, builders stopped building bigger apartments, and 100 sq metres became usual.” Now, 80 sq metre apartments are common, with growing demand for 40 sq metre “officetel” studios — rooms combining both office furniture and basic living needs.Both ends of the age spectrum are driving this change, with growing numbers of both young and old living alone. “People are getting married in their early to mid-thirties, and eschewing the traditional marriage culture — particularly women because, even now, marriage is still seen as a huge yoke around women’s necks,” says Katharine Moon, professor of Asian studies at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.In response to changing demands, the government has reclassified studio housing from commercial to residential, enabling a new micro-housing sector of units approximately 20 sq metres, priced as low as $150,000. For singletons, this compares favourably; a 50 sq metre, one-bedroom, unfurnished flat in Itaewon is currently for sale at $500,000 with Apex Relocation.“Today, people don’t get married, or don’t have kids, and individual living is more popular,” says Jinhee Park, principal at SsD Architecture, which designed Seoul’s Songpa Micro Housing development — one of the projects lauded at the Biennale exhibition. “Our units contain everything an individual would need, including kitchen, bathroom and laundry machine. We made it extremely small, but carefully designed to not be claustrophobic.”

Park says the units, the smallest of which measures 12 sq metres, reflect the demands of modern Seoulites, who want both private space and communal living. The owner of Songpa says prices per unit start from $150,000.Changing lifestyles also created a thriving rental sector, more flexible working and even a market for smaller appliances, including single-person rice cookers. The self-employed Korean population grew to more than 5.5m in February, the fastest rate for a decade.Co-working provider WeWork says its Euljiro space is one of Asia’s biggest, while its flexible living arm, WeLive, says Seoul is one of the new locations they are considering. Local alternatives, such as Sharehouse Woozoo, are flourishing, particularly in arty districts such as Hongdae and Sinchon. These changes and slowing property prices have largely heralded the end of jeonse, a traditional system where tenants pay a hefty deposit rather than monthly rent.Certain reliables remain steady in Seoul, though; namely the draw of fashionable southern suburb Gangnam. “Usually people choose to live centrally when they are young, but if they want to start a family they try to move to Gangnam, where there are bigger family houses and great schools,” says JoAnn Hong, director at Savills Korea. Family houses command strong prices; a 316 sq metre villa with seven bedrooms in Seocho district is on the market with Ace Realty for $3.4m. Yet Gangnam remains Seoul’s priciest area. According to Korea Appraisal Board data, Gangnam’s average price per 3.3 sq metre (one pyeong) was almost double Seoul’s 2016 average, at Won41.1m ($36,450).

Buying property has become the nation’s favourite investment, with 75 per cent of household assets invested in real estate, mostly residential. However, a nervous government has been clamping down on the practice, with prices inflated by off-plan buyers selling on apartments before completion, at prices that often double during construction.Agents report slower sales in 2017, due to what one describes as an unhappy combination of Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un and uncertain interest rates, making both domestic and foreign investors hesitate. Government controls are also unlikely to help Seoul’s single buyers. New bank restrictions have cut interest-only repayment times by two-thirds, and forced buyers to secure mortgages against their own credit, rather than that of the developer. While this might rein in investments, it’s unlikely to change seismic social shifts. A recent survey by KB Financial Group found 70 per cent of people living alone in Seoul were happy with their status, especially women. And encouragingly for the city’s micro-housing developers, half of respondents affirmed plans to continue living by themselves for the foreseeable future.

Buying guide

● Property prices in Seoul grew 2.14 per cent in 2016, compared with 0.71 per cent across South Korea
● Seoul is divided into 25 districts (gu), each divided into neighbourhoods (dong)
● The city is the home of Yongsan Garrison, a US military base of more than 600 acres
● Seoul has a vast subway with 331.5km of track, carrying 1.4bn passengers a yearWhat you can buy for . . .$500,000 A one-bedroom apartment in a high-rise in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu$1m A modern three-bedroom apartment in Jung-gu, Seoul’s CBD$2m A three-bedroom house with a garden in Gangnam-guMore homes at propertylistings.ft.comPhotographs: Matthew Sperzel; Mlenny; Getty