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Affordable housing law under discussion
Source: Xinhua |
February 5, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA has been working on drafting a law to ensure people with moderate or low-income could rent or buy houses at cheaper prices.
Shen Weixing, a member on the expert panel for drafting the Housing Guarantee Law, said in a press interview early this week that wide coverage is a fundamental principle of the law.
According to Shen, a draft of the law, incorporating theoretical guidelines and practices from Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, has been submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development for further discussions.
"With the law, needy families and those with low income could be guaranteed habitation via a low-rent housing scheme, though they could not possess or fully own the rights to the housing they live in," said Shen, a professor with the School of Law at Beijing-based Tsinghua University.
Apart from the low-rent housing scheme, public ownership homes will be another platform to guarantee the rights of habitation for people with varying incomes, said Shen.
Shen explained the needy could rent housing at low prices via the low-rent housing scheme, while those who are better off than the needy could buy affordable flats, price-limit housing, or even purchase flats via accumulative public funds.
According to Shen, the draft law has also laid down detailed rules on floor space of affordable housing, related service facilities, safety and quality standards, as well as locations of such houses.
Wang Zhenmin, a professor with the School of Law at Tsinghua University, who has also participated in drafting the law, said the draft legislation also stipulated that local government officials would be held accountable if they fail to provide affordable houses for ordinary people but he didn't elaborate.
China liberalized its housing market in 1998, and prices have been soaring since. The central authorities encouraged local governments to build more affordable and low-cost houses in an effort to address the rise in prices.
Many local governments would defy the central government's call to build more affordable houses which are believed to generate less revenue and contribute less to gross domestic product in the regions concerned, using lack of capital and land resources as excuses.
Shen Weixing, a member on the expert panel for drafting the Housing Guarantee Law, said in a press interview early this week that wide coverage is a fundamental principle of the law.
According to Shen, a draft of the law, incorporating theoretical guidelines and practices from Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province, has been submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development for further discussions.
"With the law, needy families and those with low income could be guaranteed habitation via a low-rent housing scheme, though they could not possess or fully own the rights to the housing they live in," said Shen, a professor with the School of Law at Beijing-based Tsinghua University.
Apart from the low-rent housing scheme, public ownership homes will be another platform to guarantee the rights of habitation for people with varying incomes, said Shen.
Shen explained the needy could rent housing at low prices via the low-rent housing scheme, while those who are better off than the needy could buy affordable flats, price-limit housing, or even purchase flats via accumulative public funds.
According to Shen, the draft law has also laid down detailed rules on floor space of affordable housing, related service facilities, safety and quality standards, as well as locations of such houses.
Wang Zhenmin, a professor with the School of Law at Tsinghua University, who has also participated in drafting the law, said the draft legislation also stipulated that local government officials would be held accountable if they fail to provide affordable houses for ordinary people but he didn't elaborate.
China liberalized its housing market in 1998, and prices have been soaring since. The central authorities encouraged local governments to build more affordable and low-cost houses in an effort to address the rise in prices.
Many local governments would defy the central government's call to build more affordable houses which are believed to generate less revenue and contribute less to gross domestic product in the regions concerned, using lack of capital and land resources as excuses.
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