There's a hot new job known as the "vacant-house sitter," in which a representative for the property owner deals with vacant-property surveys, meter-readers and property management agencies, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics announced on September 2 that it will commence a survey to ascertain the housing-vacancy rate in Beijing, which may be related to a plan to implement a vacant-property tax.

"The vacant-house sitter is not the same kind of service launched by some house-renting agents," said an agent identified as Wang. "This service is only for the upcoming government survey."

After authorization from property owners, according to Wang, the sitter will manage the house, which means maintaining appliances, paying utility bills and property-management fees. In addition, the sitter can role-play as the actual owner if necessary.

Wang said the government survey will have three focuses: the household survey, checking utility meters, and questioning property-management agencies.

The payment to the sitter varies according to the type of home. A one-bedroom and one-living room house built before the year 2000 costs 200 yuan (US$29.46) a month. Four bedrooms, one living room and one dining room run as high as 1,450 yuan (US$213.62) per month. In addition, the sitter will clean once a month and check and maintain appliances twice a month. Extra fees are accrued for additional services.

Wang says standard property owners can receive a 90-percent discount while the investors and real estate developers receive an 80 percent reduction. Wang launched this service in May for property owners who don't lease their houses but require maintenance. As word of the government survey got out, the demand for Wang's services increased.

Lin Wujiang, an attorney with Beijing Nuoheng Law Firm, says this kind of service is illegal and the company that provides such services is also illegal. She warns that property owners who hire "sitters" may suffer personal-information leaks and become prey to criminals. Even worse, if there are disagreements, the law cannot protect property owners' legal rights.

In addition to being illegal, Lin said it will interfere with the government survey, which will affect the accuracy of the data upon which economic policies will be based. According to China's statistics law, citizens have an obligation to provide truthful data.

China cannot seriously discuss the possibility of a vacant-property tax based on inaccurate figures of the nation's housing-vacancy rate. Supposedly, the tax is meant to combat speculators and to balance the entire economy. Yet how to define and measure housing vacancy is a big problem and has been a major discussion topic in the past months.

On August 4, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that as of June 30, the unsold housing area across the nation totaled 191.82 million square meters, up 6.4 percent over a year earlier. However, NBS didn't release any data on housing-vacancy rate, adding that accurate figures depend on the future population and housing census.

Beijing is going to launch surveys in several, typical communities, with six forms that cover property management, the household, and gas, water and electricity consumption. This isn't a sample survey meant to obtain estimates but intended to perfect survey methods, get accurate data and report it to the NBS.