The **sale-type affordable housing construction project in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, officially broke ground recently, marking a new step forward for Xi'an in affordable housing construction. Our reporter learned that this year, a total of 10 sale-type affordable housing projects in the first batch in Xi'an have started construction, which will provide 10,000 housing units. In addition, Shenzhen in Guangdong, Nanning in Guangxi, and other places have also made new progress in policy formulation, project site selection, and construction start-up for the first batch of sale-type affordable housing.
The housing issue is both a major livelihood issue and a major development issue. In August 2023, the State Council executive meeting deliberated and approved the Guiding Opinions on Planning and Building Affordable Housing, proposing to use reform and innovation methods to plan and build affordable housing in large cities, increase the construction and supply of affordable housing, and accelerate the resolution of housing difficulties for wage-earning groups. In December 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference emphasized accelerating the advancement of the "three major projects": affordable housing construction, "dual-use for normal and emergency purposes" public infrastructure construction, and urban village renovation. In the same month, the China Development Bank implemented the country's first sale-type affordable housing loan in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and China's affordable housing construction has since entered a new stage.
How does the planning and construction of affordable housing in the new stage differ from the previous housing security system? According to the relevant department head of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the original housing security system was mainly composed of public rental housing and affordable rental housing; now the construction of affordable housing is divided into two types: rental-type and sale-type affordable housing. Among them, rental-type includes public rental housing and affordable rental housing, while sale-type affordable housing focuses on wage-earning groups with housing difficulties and low incomes, as well as scientific and technological personnel, teachers, medical staff, and others whom cities need to introduce, and is sold at the principle of covering costs with modest profits. Planning and building affordable housing is a major reform under the new situation to adapt to the new requirements of Chinese-style modernization, improve the housing system and supply system, and reconstruct the relationship between the market and security. The focus of this reform is to expand a new path for sale-type affordable housing, ultimately achieving the goal of the government guaranteeing basic needs and the market meeting multi-level housing needs, and establishing a housing system that promotes both renting and purchasing.
Where is sale-type affordable housing built, and what are the surrounding supporting facilities like? This is a issue of great concern to the public.
In Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, citizen Wang Bin's family of six rents in an urban village in Longhua District. "In 2006, I came to Shenzhen to work. After getting married, I rented a two-bedroom apartment in an urban village. As our two children were born one after another, and after my parents retired they also came here from our hometown to help take care of the children, the two-bedroom apartment could no longer meet our needs. In 2009, we moved to our current three-bedroom apartment, with an indoor area of about 70 square meters, a bit more spacious than before," Wang Bin told the reporter.
Although the family can barely fit, Wang Bin has new worries. "The overall environment of the urban village is not particularly good. Two years ago, the intersection at the entrance had not yet been renovated to separate pedestrians and vehicles, and bicycles and motor vehicles often crossed randomly. We did not dare let the children cross the road alone; the safety hazard was too great," Wang Bin said. In addition, rising rent has also become a major expense for the family. Speaking of future housing plans, Wang Bin said: "Renting in an urban village is never a long-term solution. Recently I saw relevant information about sale-type affordable housing online, and I hope to move into affordable housing as soon as possible and have a real home in Shenzhen."
When asked about his expectations for sale-type affordable housing, Wang Bin told the reporter: "I hope for an 80 to 90 square meter three-bedroom apartment, preferably simply or fully furnished, so we can move in with our bags. The surrounding facilities should be complete and transportation convenient, so that it is convenient for the children to go to school, adults to work, and the elderly to see a doctor."
To better meet the housing needs of sale-type affordable housing recipients like Wang Bin, the Shenzhen Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau, in accordance with the principle of "using prime land for prime purposes," carries out the planning and construction of affordable housing projects, giving priority to sites with convenient public transportation and complete public supporting facilities such as education. At the same time, in accordance with the "four follow" principle (following industrial parks, following large institutions, following rail transit, and following the revitalization of resources), it continuously improves the match between affordable housing planning and construction and demand, and promotes job-housing balance.
"On the basis of fully investigating the current status of land planning and surrounding supporting conditions, our city has sorted out the first batch of 10,000 units of sale-type affordable housing. This year, a total of 13 sale-type affordable housing projects will start construction, distributed across 7 districts including Futian District and Nanshan District," said the relevant head of the Shenzhen Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau.
Like Wang Bin, He Dongkun in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is also full of expectations for sale-type affordable housing. He Dongkun's hometown is in the countryside of Nanning. After graduating from university, he worked in the urban area of Nanning and currently rents with his wife in a talent apartment. "I graduated and started working in 2018. Over the past few years I have saved some money and plan to buy a house, but the financial pressure of buying commercial housing is still relatively great. Recently I learned some information about Nanning's sale-type affordable housing projects, and I am quite satisfied with the location and supporting facilities of one of them. If one day we can apply successfully, we will have a home in the true sense, and when we have a baby in the future, we will be even happier," He Dongkun said with a smile, describing to the reporter a beautiful picture of future life.
As the construction of sale-type affordable housing projects in Nanning continues to advance, He Dongkun's beautiful picture will be realized sooner. Since 2023, Nanning has established an affordable housing construction command center to take the lead in overall coordination and promote related work at a high level. It has also established Nanning Anju Construction Investment Co., Ltd., responsible for the development, construction, sales, and operation management of affordable housing in Nanning.
In addition, in accordance with the principle of "determining construction by demand," since October 10 last year Nanning has commissioned a professional team to conduct a survey of affordable housing demand among wage-earning groups such as public service personnel. Up to now, a total of 25,000 questionnaires have been distributed and 21,900 collected. Among the collected questionnaires, 13,600 households expressed intention to purchase affordable housing, accounting for 62.1% of the collected questionnaires. "In accordance with the principle of 'job-housing balance,' we have selected 7 convenient and highly mature plots as pilot affordable housing projects, with a land area of 330 mu and 7,200 housing units. Among them, 5 projects are planned to start construction this year, with 4,000 housing units proposed for construction," introduced a staff member of the Nanning Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau.
On January 13, the first batch of sale-type affordable housing projects in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, began construction, with plans to build 10,000 units of sale-type affordable housing this year; on February 27, two sale-type affordable housing projects in Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, held construction start activities, with plans to build no fewer than 6,000 units of sale-type affordable housing this year... As many places press the "accelerator key" for affordable housing construction, more people with housing difficulties will realize their dream of stable living sooner.
评论 （0）