In the recent years, based on the principle of “providing proper, multi-layer and multi-form security service” , Tianjin has tried to make up for the deficiency in the market mechanism through making policies and resourcing public finance to speed up the construction of housing security system. So far, four programs have been established, including low-rent housing, economically applicable housing, economical-rent housing and ceiling-priced commercial housing, in order to meet different demands of people at different income levels.
The housing security undertaking took off comparatively early in Tianjin. So far the low-rent housing program has been established, benefiting 29,000 households presently. According to the plan, in five years, the number of households benefiting from the low-rent housing program will reach 100,000, with the total investment to exceed 2.8 billion yuan.
In order to meet different demands of low-income families, low-rent housing program will include three security forms: firstly, the government will provide house for rent, which claims a monthly rent of only one yuan for per square meter. Secondly, the government will provide rent allowance to allow low-income families with a monthly income lower than 800 yuan and an average living space per capita of or smaller than 9 square meters to rent other dwellings by themselves. Thirdly, the families, which rent public-owned dwellings and are on basic living allowance, will have their rent reduced. The reduced rent is half of that of the present public-owned dwellings.
Since 2003, Tianjin has invested 1.3 billion yuan and built more than 7,000 low-rent units with a total area of 480,000 square meters. In the future five years, another 1.35 billion yuan will be resourced to build 1,000 low-rent dwellings every year. It is estimated that there will be up to 7,000 households renting the low-rent units.
Tianjin has so far provided subsidies totally up to 20 million yuan. The city plans to subsidize another 1.4 billion yuan in the next five years to benefit a total of 70,000 families.
Economically applicable housing program for people in the lower and middle income brackets is also underway. Since 2005, Tianjin has invested 8.5 billion yuan to provide the people with 140,000 economically applicable units, of a total area of 9 million square meters. The government plans to offer 62,300 units of 3.8 million square meters this year. In five years, it will spend 17 billion yuan to build 276,800 economically applicable units of 17.9 million square meters.
The so-called “sandwich” group faces an awkward situation, since they have an income level somewhere between the low-income families and the middle- and low-income families and are not able to rent low-rent houses or afford economical applicable houses. For this group, the Tianjin government offers rent subsidy to help improve their living conditions. The amount of the subsidy is adjusted based on the market rent level and maintains approximately half of the market level. Since 2004, up to 4,000 families have benefited from this program. In the future five years, the government will spend 170 million yuan to help up to 7,000 families.
Tianjin is beginning to establish the ceiling-priced commercial housing program for middle- and low-income families. The price of the ceiling-priced commercial dwellings is checked and ratified by the government. The basic principle is that the price will be lower by 20 percent than the price of similar dwellings in the same or neighboring areas three months before the assessment of the house. In 2008, Tianjin plans to offer 20,000 units of 1.5 million square meters.
The municipal government has included the improvement of the housing condition of mid- and low-income households as the top priority among the 20 Morale Projects for 2009, and takes it as a key point in the improvement of the people’s life. For the first half of 2009, the construction of security housing and the issuing of allowances is steadily progressing, making a good start for this year’s work.
According to the housing security five-year plan the municipal government has made, Tianjin Municipal Government will invest a total of 20 billion yuan by the year of 2012, with another 500,000 households benefiting from the program. 430,000 security houses of various types, including low-rent houses, economically applicable houses, and ceiling-priced commercial housing, will be built, and housing allowances will cover 70,000 households. Taking into account the 70,000 households that are already enjoying the security, the total number adds to 570,000 households, accounting for some 27 percent of Tianjin’s 2,100,000 non-agricultural households.
