Housing
Renting a flat in Seoul: deposit, rent and where to get help
As of: October 2026 · Leben in Korea
For many, finding a flat is the hardest part of arriving in Seoul. The rental system works differently from what you may know, and deposits are high. Here's how it works and where you can find support.
Jeonse or wolse?
Korea has two kinds of rent: with jeonse (전세) you leave a very high, refundable deposit instead of paying monthly rent. With monthly rent (월세, wolse) you pay a deposit plus monthly rent.
Many foreigners find it hard to get a loan for a jeonse deposit and therefore choose monthly rent. In the Seoul Survey 2024, 52.5% of the foreigners surveyed paid monthly rent, compared with 28% of all Seoul residents.
The costs to expect
In August 2026 the average monthly rent for multi-family houses in Seoul hit a record ₩675,000. The average deposit was ₩61.17 million (Korea Real Estate Board).
The most common problems
The most common problems for foreigners: communicating with the landlord and getting the deposit back. The Seoul Global Center puts you in touch with professionals for this.
Agents who speak English
Seoul has "Global Real Estate Agencies": 293 agents who speak foreign languages, 219 of them English. Most are in Yongsan (54), Gangnam (32) and Seocho (31). The list is on the city's website.
Free rental counselling
The Seoul Foreign Residents Support Center in Yeongdeungpo (Daelim-dong) offers free rental counselling against jeonse fraud, with English-speaking agents. Check global.seoul.go.kr for when counselling currently takes place.
Contact: phone 2229-4900, email help@sfrc.seoul.kr, information on global.seoul.go.kr.
The center advises getting help early, ideally before you sign.
Checklist
- Decide: jeonse or monthly rent
- Find an English-speaking agent via the city's list
- Get advice before you sign
Sources
- Korea Herald via Asia News Network – Rising rents narrow housing choices for Seoul's foreign residents (1 Oct 2026)
- Korea Times – Seoul to combat home lease fraud with multilingual counseling (17 Nov 2024)
As of: October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice. No guarantee; the official authorities have the final word.