[photopress:low_cost_housing_Shenzen.jpg,full,alignright]Qin Hong, deputy director of the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Construction, said at the Sina Real Estate Forum that low-rent housing will be a key part of the government’s real estate policy this year. She said, ‘I would like to sum up the feature of this year’s policy as steady, advance and strengthened implementation.’
The central government said last year that 5% of land-use fees should be directed to build low-rent housing. According to 2005 figures, 5% could translate into RMB10.9 billion ($1.41 billion) that could help ease the demand for houses for low-income families.
Qin Hong said, ‘But how much of them could really be in place?’ She added that local governments must play key roles. . . More policies are in the pipeline to balance the regional differences. She added that the 5% of land-use fees from out-of-the-way areas could hardly support the construction of low-rent homes.
Gu Yunchang, vice-chairman of China Real Estate and Housing Research Institution said shrinking the gap between demand and supply remains the focus of this year’s real estate policy.
He said, ‘To reduce the gap, we shall increase the supply of small-sized apartments and expand investment channels through financial innovation.’ This seems unduly hopeful.
According to a regulation from nine ministers last May, apartments smaller than 90 sq m should account for 70% of residential supplies. That is not what is happening. In the first quarter of 2007, the investment in those small-scale apartments accounted for just 16.1%. Much remains to be done.
Source: China View