Beijing will build 20 million square meters of low-cost housing
in the next three years in a bid to meet demand.
The city will also begin construction work on 300,000 square
meters of affordable rental housing, the Beijing Morning
Post reported.
This means Beijing will have about 80,000 inexpensive new
apartments each year entering the market in the next three
years.
The Ministry of Construction requires 70 percent of new
condominium development projects to have a floor space of no more
than 90 square meters.
The figure will account for 30 percent of the city's annual
housing supply, the Beijing-based China Business Times
said.
A special office to oversee the exploration and management work
on these houses has been set up, the Beijing News reported
yesterday.
Beijing's move is in line with a recent state policy shift that
encourages property developers across the nation to build more
houses for low-income earners.
At a central government meeting late last month, which heard a
report on Beijing's regulation of the real estate market,
Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan said Beijing needs to stabilize housing
prices and regulate the market so as to promote its healthy
development.
Zeng said: "There should be a multi-tiered housing supply
mechanism, and it is imperative to make it easier for low-income
families to buy homes."
(China Daily March 9, 2007)