Govt vows return of stability to housing

The government will spare no effort to ensure the healthy development of homes, the nation's top housing regulator said on Wednesday.

The principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation" will be upheld under all circumstances, officials said.

Sustained and timely measures have substantially improved Chinese people's living environment over the past decade, they said, adding such steps will be intensified, going forward.

"The past 10 years witnessed the fastest development of our nation's real estate, and people's living conditions improved significantly," said Jiang Wanrong, vice-minister of housing and urban-rural development.

The real estate sector is closely connected with people's lives as well as economic development, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will continue to work hard to lay a solid foundation for the stable and healthy development of the property market, said Wang Shengjun, a spokesman for the ministry.

Both the housing market and related security need to be improved－and stabilizing land prices, home prices and market expectations is a priority, he said.

The four key elements in the real estate sector－people, housing, land and capital－should have smooth linkages, he said.

Housing supply has constantly increased over the past 10 years, with the accumulated residential trading space－gross floor area－totaling 13.23 billion square meters, 2.2 times that of the previous 10 years.

The nation's per capita urban housing floor area has increased to 38.6 sq m in 2020. Housing quality has also gradually improved, with better facilities and a more livable environment, Jiang said. "The past decade is also the period when China saw huge investment in government-subsidized housing projects."

During the period, as much as 14.8 trillion yuan was invested in the construction of various government-subsidized homes as well as resettlement projects related to shantytown renovation, which helped 140 million people to improve their living conditions, Jiang said.

As many as 3.3 million units of new subsidized rental housing were planned in 2021 and 2022, which would ease the housing shortage problem faced by about 10 million new city dwellers and those from the younger generation.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), about 6.5 million units of such subsidized rental housing will be developed in 40 Chinese cities. This is expected to help up to 20 million new city dwellers as well as young people.

The nation's total household living space has surpassed 50 billion sq m as of 2020. The ministry will accelerate the supply of living spaces via multiple channels, to enhance the standards of residential buildings' design and construction, and to improve housing management and service quality, so as to constantly meet people's need for better living conditions, Wang said.

Wang also noted the ministry has rolled out special measures jointly with the Ministry of Finance as well as the central bank to support cities that need support in the delivery of presold homes. "Related works are conducted in an orderly way."