Cooperation bid to cut apartment costs
Source: Xinhua |
July 13, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A COOPERATIVE housing scheme which aims to make it possible for people to buy apartments at cost price is being explored in land-scarce Beijing.
"Under this kind of model, home buyers raise funds, buy land and build apartments all by themselves without developers' participation," said Sun Zhiqun, a 39-year-old with 20 years' experience in property development.
Sun plans to start by buying two tracts of land in Tongzhou and Daxing districts.
Sun expects apartments built on the two plots to be sold at 8,900 yuan (US1,413) per square meter and 7,624 yuan per square meter, respectively.
"The scheme, if successful, will give participants a price that is 30-40 percent lower than buying commercial residential housing," Sun said.
In recent years, skyrocketing home prices have raised concerns over asset bubbles and have made apartment in big cities unaffordable to millions of people. "That explains why our cooperative housing project won widespread support among middle and low-income workers," Sun said.
Wang Xinlei, a 29-year-old sales assistant who has been sharing a two-bedroom apartment with a couple for six years, said she'd like to join the project given the competitive prices. "I can't afford commercial residential apartments. It seems joining such cooperative housing schemes is my only chance to own an apartment in Beijing."
"The scheme reflects that people's home-owning dreams have not faded," said Zhu Zhongyi, deputy head of China Real Estate Association.
Sun's idea is not entirely new. Former Lenovo engineer Yu Linggang and Wenzhou businessman Zhao Zhiqiang put forward similar proposals, but their efforts to build a cooperative housing project failed.
The biggest obstacle was the lack of funds to get land, as cooperative housing participants are at a disadvantage when competing with developers.
China adopted a bidding system for land sales in 2003, under which the bidder offering the highest price gets the land parcel. Sun said he was not sure whether he could obtain the two plots as some developers have also applied to attend the land auction.
"People who want to participate in this cooperative scheme must be united and move quickly, otherwise we'll lose the chance," he said.
"Under this kind of model, home buyers raise funds, buy land and build apartments all by themselves without developers' participation," said Sun Zhiqun, a 39-year-old with 20 years' experience in property development.
Sun plans to start by buying two tracts of land in Tongzhou and Daxing districts.
Sun expects apartments built on the two plots to be sold at 8,900 yuan (US1,413) per square meter and 7,624 yuan per square meter, respectively.
"The scheme, if successful, will give participants a price that is 30-40 percent lower than buying commercial residential housing," Sun said.
In recent years, skyrocketing home prices have raised concerns over asset bubbles and have made apartment in big cities unaffordable to millions of people. "That explains why our cooperative housing project won widespread support among middle and low-income workers," Sun said.
Wang Xinlei, a 29-year-old sales assistant who has been sharing a two-bedroom apartment with a couple for six years, said she'd like to join the project given the competitive prices. "I can't afford commercial residential apartments. It seems joining such cooperative housing schemes is my only chance to own an apartment in Beijing."
"The scheme reflects that people's home-owning dreams have not faded," said Zhu Zhongyi, deputy head of China Real Estate Association.
Sun's idea is not entirely new. Former Lenovo engineer Yu Linggang and Wenzhou businessman Zhao Zhiqiang put forward similar proposals, but their efforts to build a cooperative housing project failed.
The biggest obstacle was the lack of funds to get land, as cooperative housing participants are at a disadvantage when competing with developers.
China adopted a bidding system for land sales in 2003, under which the bidder offering the highest price gets the land parcel. Sun said he was not sure whether he could obtain the two plots as some developers have also applied to attend the land auction.
"People who want to participate in this cooperative scheme must be united and move quickly, otherwise we'll lose the chance," he said.
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