It is neither realistic nor reasonable to expect that commercial
housing can be the sole way to guarantee that all residents have
their own homes. The ever soaring housing prices make it a pie in
the sky for those low-income residents and those who rely on
basic-living allowances from the government to buy houses on their
own.
For this reason, the central government in 1999 introduced a
policy requiring governments at various levels to use a certain
percentage of income from land transfers for commercial housing to
build low-rent housing for low-income families.
This is a realistic way to solve the housing problem for
low-income residents and it is also the responsibility of
governments at various levels to provide cheap housing for the
poor.
But the construction area of such housing is so small that most
low-income residents fail to have such houses to rent.
The new policy introduced by the State Council in August this
year makes it quite clear that it is an important work of local
governments to guarantee low-rent housing for low-income residents.
The central authorities have reiterated time and again that
governments at various levels must do whatever they can to solve
the housing problems of their residents.
To be honest, some localities have done a great deal in this
regard. The announcement by the Beijing municipal government
yesterday that low-rent housing will be constructed along with
three commercial housing projects sets a good example for the rest
of the country.
Along with the construction of more low-rent housing, the
Beijing municipal government also announced that government
subsidies to low-income families for house rents would be increased
by 10 yuan ($1.3) per square meter.
What is noteworthy is the requirement for the construction of
low-rent housing that such houses must be well equipped with
whatever is necessary to make life convenient for their occupants
although their living area is relatively smaller than commercial
housing.
We see a ray of hope from what Beijing has done - low-income
residents will be able to have decent homes of their own.
(China Daily November 22, 2007)