JTYK offers greater later-life stability for more elderly households

- Sixty elderly households with only their registered home owners aged 60 or above have applied for JTYK in just a month, with 32 of those subscribing sucessfully

- During the last three months, 292 households have applied for the Early-Subscription JTYK with 202 successful subscriptions

On September 25th, the Korea Housing Finance Corporation (HF, CEO Seo Jong-dae) announced that the JooTaekYeonKeum (JTYK) reverse mortgage loan scheme—with its subscription requirements recently relaxed—is firmly establishing itself as an effective means of ensuring a stable later life for low-income elderly citizens, including those struggling to repay their mortgage loans (often dubbed the “house poor”) as well as early retirees.

□ Elderly households with only their registered home owners aged 60 or above account for 10% of all JTYK applications in August

This August, the subscription requirements for JTYK were eased from “both spouses aged 60 or above” to “only the registered housing owners being 60 years or older.” Following this move, 60 new households with only the registered housing owners being 60 years or older applied for JTYK, and 32 of them successfully joined the scheme. The 60 applying households accounted for around 10% of all JTYK applications made that month.

The average profile of JTYK-subscribed households in which only their registered home owners are 60 years or older is as follows: The average registered owners and their spouses are 63.5 and 57.3 years old, respectively, with the age gap between these couples at about six years. Their homes are valued at 380 million won, and their monthly benefits stand at 800,000 won on average.

□ Applications for the Early-Subscription JTYK have also continued

Introduced on June 1st as part of the Korean government’s policy initiative to tackle the “house poor” issue, the Early-Subscription JTYK attracted 292 applications in three months, out of which 202 successful subscriptions were eventually made. This accounts for around 18% of all JTYK applications (1,611) made during the period.

* Launched on June 1st, the Early-Subscription JTYK is a scheme that allows households owning a single home worth 600 million won or less, whose registered owners are aged 50 or above, to use a lump-sum payment up to 100% of their maximum pension benefits in repaying their existing mortgage loans and to continue to reside in their respective homes for the rest of their lives.

The average value of housing owned by Early-Subscription JTYK subscribers was 310 million won; they were found to have received an average of 130 million won—equivalent to 42% of their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio—in lump sums to repay their existing mortgage loans.

“The eased requirements for JTYK subscription have enabled many elderly citizens suffering from a loss of income after retirement to join JTYK and enjoy the benefits it has to offer,” stated one HF official. “We will continue to expand JTYK’s role as a safety net for a happy post-retirement life.”