Right to Housing in Housing Lease: With reference to German law

Abstract

Although the domestic housing supply rate has already exceeded 100% from 10 years ago, the homeowner’s share of housing in 2021 is still at 57.3%. Due to the imbalance between supply and demand, there is a rapid rise in housing prices and a housing shortage in the housing rental market. As a result, housing tenants are suffering from housing instability and economic burden. In the domestic housing rental market, it not only greatly undermines the housing stability of the tenants, but also acts as an obstacle to the welfare and integration of the people. On the other hand, it is worth noting that advanced countries such as Germany, England, and France have already widely guaranteed the rights of lessees without imposing restrictions on the duration of leases since the 1960s and 1970s. Recently, there is an opinion that the lease period should be guaranteed for 6 years or longer by extending the minimum period of housing lease or by increasing the number of exercise of the right of renewal lease. From a comparative law point of view, there is no limit on the number of contract renewal rights or the rental period for housing leases. Therefore, from a long-term perspective, it would be desirable not to set the duration of the lease in order to guarantee the stable housing right. However, considering the domestic housing lease situation and legal system, a realistic alternative is not to restrict the exercise of the lessee's right of renewal lease. However, in this case, it is necessary to study the legal theory of the Reasons for refuse to renewal lease under Article 6-3 (1) of the Housing Lease Protection Act. In addition, iit is worth considering introducing the right of defense of poverty in Article 574 of the German Civil Code to strongly protect the housing rights of tenants in need. Furthermore, it is possible to secure the housing stability of the lessee through rent regulation that fundamentally prohibits the opportunity for the lessor to pursue economic interests by changing the lessee.