Global Times - Reserve cheap housing for the deserving poor

Reserve cheap housing for the deserving poor

Source: Global Times
[21:52 March 24 2010]
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Debates on affordable housing have been centered around whether buyers be given property rights, but this is misplaced.

The real point is whether an affordable housing owner should keep his apartment after his economic situation has been much improved, such as, for instance, if he or she buys a BMW, even a used one!

If it's felt that those who find themselves richer should give up their right to affordable housing, how can this be managed and people who need it be given the housing in their place?

The UK and Japan have set good examples in this regard. The UK has housing built and run by the government directly and offered to low-income families. Buyers can acquire partial ownership of such houses and pay rent for the rest.

When buyers' incomes increase, they have to pay for the house in full, and then the government uses the money to build new affordable houses.

Japan's public housing is similar to China's low-rent housing. Japan checks tenants' income strictly each year. When a tenant's income has been over the standard for public housing for three years in row, he or she has to pay more rent. When a tenant keeps renting the house for a consecutive five years after his or her income has exceeded the standard, he or she must buy the house.

The UK and Japan's success lies not on giving buyers property rights, but on a strict system to secure that those in need can enjoy affordable housing and public housing.

China lacks a strict and delicate exit mechanism for affordable housing.

Although China requires that buyers must own apartments for five years before they sell them, and the government has priority when it comes to buying affordable apartments, speculators can still profit from buying and selling affordable apartments.

Thus the point is not to cancel the affordable housing system, but to secure the circulation of these apartments among those in need and to prevent the rich from profiting from the system.

Beijing News