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Young college graduates stagger under burden of soaring rents
By Liu Lu and Fu Shuangqi |
January 20, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
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WU Di, a department secretary at prestigious university, has to sacrifice her privacy for lower rent.
She shares one room of a two-bedroom apartment, furnished with two single beds, and splits the monthly rent of 1,500 yuan (US$224) with a female friend.
Wu moved in two weeks ago. She used to share a two-bedroom apartment with a family of three, after she graduated from college in June 2010. "I paid 1,250 yuan monthly. It was too much since I only earned 3,000 yuan a month," said Wu. "Besides, the family next door was very noisy."
Although the lower rent eases her financial difficulties a bit, she had hoped to pay less. "Nearly one-third of my salary goes to rent. I am always very careful about spending money," she said.
A survey by the China Youth Daily Survey Center in December showed that 81.6 percent of 4,060 surveyed tenants around China said their rent had increased, and 80.6 percent said soaring rent has greatly affected their lives.
More and more young, white-collar Chinese have found themselves in an embarrassing situation: they have to bear a heavy financial burden from soaring rent and housing prices but they don't qualify for preferential government policies for low-income people, such as subsidized low-rent apartments.
Lu Wei, a programmer at a leading portal website, watched rent go up over the past four years. "In 2006, it cost nearly 1,000 yuan less per month for a medium-decorated two-bedroom apartment," he said. Now he shares a two-bedroom apartment with a friend near downtown Beijing.
Rising rent
Liu Qingzhu, research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, argued that housing rent has taken up too much of young people's income. "Spending one-third or even a half of their income in housing rent is too much. They need money to do many other things, such as purchase decent clothes, study and for entertainment," Liu said.
In 2008, Lu Wei was forced to move out of an apartment because the landlord raised the rent as the market price rose. "Mostly the landlord has the say. Contracts usually do not mean anything. If you do not agree with a rent increase, you have to move out," Lu said. "The problem is, no matter how much the rent is, there will be people willing to pay. That's why rents keep soaring."
According to Homelink, a leading real estate broker in Beijing, the average monthly rent was 3,182 yuan in December last year. Lu had thought of settling down but housing prices were beyond his means. The average price for a new apartment in Beijing reached 20,000 yuan per square meter, and for a pre-existing apartment it was 16,000 yuan per square meter.
Liu Qingzhu suggested that the government should pay more attention to this group of young people. "New graduates especially need help. The government can provide some preferential housing policies to help them adapt to the first few years of work," he said.
For example, he said, the government can open some low-rent houses to them or specially arrange for youth apartments. "The proper rent may be around 500 yuan for one room. After working for several years with a better financial situation, they can move on to buy an apartment or rent a better one."
In fact, the government has started to build more low-rent housing projects and public rental projects. Last year, the country started to build 5.9 million government-subsidized apartments, and that number will reach 10 million in 2011, said Jiang Weixin, minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, at a meeting last month.
Also, a new regulation on leasing commercial property, to take effect in February, forbids landlords from increasing rent unilaterally during a lease.
She shares one room of a two-bedroom apartment, furnished with two single beds, and splits the monthly rent of 1,500 yuan (US$224) with a female friend.
Wu moved in two weeks ago. She used to share a two-bedroom apartment with a family of three, after she graduated from college in June 2010. "I paid 1,250 yuan monthly. It was too much since I only earned 3,000 yuan a month," said Wu. "Besides, the family next door was very noisy."
Although the lower rent eases her financial difficulties a bit, she had hoped to pay less. "Nearly one-third of my salary goes to rent. I am always very careful about spending money," she said.
A survey by the China Youth Daily Survey Center in December showed that 81.6 percent of 4,060 surveyed tenants around China said their rent had increased, and 80.6 percent said soaring rent has greatly affected their lives.
More and more young, white-collar Chinese have found themselves in an embarrassing situation: they have to bear a heavy financial burden from soaring rent and housing prices but they don't qualify for preferential government policies for low-income people, such as subsidized low-rent apartments.
Lu Wei, a programmer at a leading portal website, watched rent go up over the past four years. "In 2006, it cost nearly 1,000 yuan less per month for a medium-decorated two-bedroom apartment," he said. Now he shares a two-bedroom apartment with a friend near downtown Beijing.
Rising rent
Liu Qingzhu, research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, argued that housing rent has taken up too much of young people's income. "Spending one-third or even a half of their income in housing rent is too much. They need money to do many other things, such as purchase decent clothes, study and for entertainment," Liu said.
In 2008, Lu Wei was forced to move out of an apartment because the landlord raised the rent as the market price rose. "Mostly the landlord has the say. Contracts usually do not mean anything. If you do not agree with a rent increase, you have to move out," Lu said. "The problem is, no matter how much the rent is, there will be people willing to pay. That's why rents keep soaring."
According to Homelink, a leading real estate broker in Beijing, the average monthly rent was 3,182 yuan in December last year. Lu had thought of settling down but housing prices were beyond his means. The average price for a new apartment in Beijing reached 20,000 yuan per square meter, and for a pre-existing apartment it was 16,000 yuan per square meter.
Liu Qingzhu suggested that the government should pay more attention to this group of young people. "New graduates especially need help. The government can provide some preferential housing policies to help them adapt to the first few years of work," he said.
For example, he said, the government can open some low-rent houses to them or specially arrange for youth apartments. "The proper rent may be around 500 yuan for one room. After working for several years with a better financial situation, they can move on to buy an apartment or rent a better one."
In fact, the government has started to build more low-rent housing projects and public rental projects. Last year, the country started to build 5.9 million government-subsidized apartments, and that number will reach 10 million in 2011, said Jiang Weixin, minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, at a meeting last month.
Also, a new regulation on leasing commercial property, to take effect in February, forbids landlords from increasing rent unilaterally during a lease.
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