More than 60 cities have warmly responded the central government's proposal to quicken their purchase of housing stock for guaranteeing the affordable housing.
A dozen cities have already purchased more than 150,000 units to turn them into government-subsidized affordable housing for the people in need.
At least 32 cities have issued their detailed plans to materialize the proposal, officially put forth on May 17, 2024.
In Guiyang, the provincial capital of Guizhou in the southwest, local state-owned enterprises have purchased 1,190 units of affordable commodity houses for rental, with government subsidies.
Wu Xian and his family just moved in one of the units, and they are delightfully refurnishing the new apartment for the Chinese New Year.
"We've moved in the new home. Then we want to paste Spring Festival couplets and fortune stickers, and hang lanterns and celebrate the new year," said Wu.
So far, Guiyang has purchased 5,162 units of commercial housing stock, and more than 3,500 units have been put into use after renovation, effectively solving 4,100 residents' demand for housing.
An Jiahui from Guiyang Talent Housing Service Company explained their renovation plan.
"We have three types of apartments, single room, one-bedroom plus a hall and two-bedroom ones. The first two types account for 90 percent of all our apartments," said An.
Changchun, the provincial capital of Jilin in the northeast, has purchased 6,837 units of existing commercial housing stock, which will increase 11,300 units to the supply of affordable houses after renovation.
"It's urgent to solve the demand for transitional housing (for new citizens of the city). Our purchase of existing commodity housing stock for affordable apartments for rental just satisfies their housing demand. Next, we will keep looking for suitable projects across the city and conduct investigation on them, before continuously purchasing them following the principle of placing orders according to the demand," said Liu Hongjie, director of house rental service center of Changchun Municipal Bureau of Housing Security and Management.
Other cities are also actively carrying out their procurement plan. Hefei, the provincial capital of Anhui in east China, has purchased 5,733 units of commercial housing stock. Changsha in central China's Hunan Province has purchased its first 436 units to satisfy the rental demand of new citizens.
Many cities have also set up special working groups on housing procurement under the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism, and over 70 cities have publicly released announcements on soliciting housing sources.
Wang Wei, researcher of the Development Research Center of the State Council, talked about the significance of the purchase project.
"On the one hand it could satisfy our demand to guarantee housing, but more importantly, it will accelerate the digestion of housing stock, so as to further stabilize the real estate market and boost market confidence. It's a very important policy tool to stabilize the real estate market," said Wang.
Cities quicken purchase of housing stock for affordable housing
