2015 shantytown renovation target completed ahead of schedule, 5.8 million units nationwide set a new record
On December 1, the National Agricultural Development Bank Loan Experience Exchange Meeting and the Annual Summary Meeting on Public Rental Housing Allocation and Move-in was held in Yichang City, Hubei Province. Wang Ning, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, revealed at the meeting that as of the end of October, a total of 5.8 million units of urban shantytown
On December 1, the “National Agricultural Development Bank Loan Experience Exchange Meeting and the Annual Summary Meeting on Public Rental Housing Allocation and Move-in” was held in Yichang City, Hubei Province. Wang Ning, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China, revealed at the meeting that as of the end of October, a total of 5.8 million units of urban shantytown renovation had been completed nationwide, completing the annual target task ahead of schedule.
In 2015, construction of 7.4 million units of affordable housing was started nationwide, of which 5.8 million units were shantytown renovation, the highest in past years. Seven provinces including Hubei, Shandong, Henan and Guizhou had annual shantytown renovation tasks of more than 300,000 units. At the meeting that day, Wang Ning summarized and commented on the 2015 shantytown renovation work and the public rental housing allocation and move-in work, and also revealed shortcomings and pressures.
Wang Ning said that the proportion of monetized resettlement in shantytown renovation resettlement increased significantly, becoming a major highlight of the 2015 shantytown renovation work. As of the end of October, 1.62 million households were resettled through monetization in shantytown renovation in 2015, accounting for 28% of the annual shantytown renovation construction starts, 19 percentage points higher than in 2014.
It is understood that the national shantytown renovation task for 2016 is 6 million units, and there will still be 6 provinces with construction tasks exceeding 300,000 units.
“Thanks to national policy support, shantytown renovation work is now ushering in a golden period of opportunity.” Facing the pressure, Wang Ning said that shantytown renovation work concerns people's livelihood, the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to it, and support for shantytown renovation work has increased year by year. As of now, China Development Bank has issued a cumulative total of 651.6 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) in shantytown renovation loans in 2015, and is expected to issue 750 billion yuan in loans for the whole year. Next year it will continue to increase shantytown renovation loans, and the Agricultural Development Bank of China will also support shantytown renovation projects. All localities should take advantage of the “east wind” of national shantytown renovation policy, actively strive for loans and special funds, do a good job in project reserves, and take multiple measures to solve the financing difficulties of shantytown renovation, ensuring the smooth progress of shantytown renovation work.
In addition to shantytown renovation work, this year's public rental housing allocation and move-in work also made certain progress. As of the end of October, 3.37 million new public rental housing units had been allocated and moved into nationwide. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin and Heilongjiang, 7 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, had relatively high public rental housing allocation and move-in rates.
“But overall, the public rental housing allocation and move-in rate is still relatively low.” Wang Ning said that the main reasons for vacant public rental housing are lagging infrastructure construction, some areas emphasizing construction over allocation and failing to start allocation work in a timely manner, and excessively high thresholds for public rental housing allocation and move-in.
Wang Ning pointed out that all localities should put public rental housing allocation and move-in on an important agenda, attach great importance to the problem of vacant public rental housing, effectively lower entry thresholds, implement the construction of supporting facilities for public rental housing, accelerate the promotion of public rental housing allocation and move-in, and let more families in difficulty realize the dream of “having a home to live in.”
In 2015, construction of 7.4 million units of affordable housing was started nationwide, of which 5.8 million units were shantytown renovation, the highest in past years. Seven provinces including Hubei, Shandong, Henan and Guizhou had annual shantytown renovation tasks of more than 300,000 units. At the meeting that day, Wang Ning summarized and commented on the 2015 shantytown renovation work and the public rental housing allocation and move-in work, and also revealed shortcomings and pressures.
Wang Ning said that the proportion of monetized resettlement in shantytown renovation resettlement increased significantly, becoming a major highlight of the 2015 shantytown renovation work. As of the end of October, 1.62 million households were resettled through monetization in shantytown renovation in 2015, accounting for 28% of the annual shantytown renovation construction starts, 19 percentage points higher than in 2014.
It is understood that the national shantytown renovation task for 2016 is 6 million units, and there will still be 6 provinces with construction tasks exceeding 300,000 units.
“Thanks to national policy support, shantytown renovation work is now ushering in a golden period of opportunity.” Facing the pressure, Wang Ning said that shantytown renovation work concerns people's livelihood, the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to it, and support for shantytown renovation work has increased year by year. As of now, China Development Bank has issued a cumulative total of 651.6 billion yuan (RMB, the same below) in shantytown renovation loans in 2015, and is expected to issue 750 billion yuan in loans for the whole year. Next year it will continue to increase shantytown renovation loans, and the Agricultural Development Bank of China will also support shantytown renovation projects. All localities should take advantage of the “east wind” of national shantytown renovation policy, actively strive for loans and special funds, do a good job in project reserves, and take multiple measures to solve the financing difficulties of shantytown renovation, ensuring the smooth progress of shantytown renovation work.
In addition to shantytown renovation work, this year's public rental housing allocation and move-in work also made certain progress. As of the end of October, 3.37 million new public rental housing units had been allocated and moved into nationwide. Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin and Heilongjiang, 7 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, had relatively high public rental housing allocation and move-in rates.
“But overall, the public rental housing allocation and move-in rate is still relatively low.” Wang Ning said that the main reasons for vacant public rental housing are lagging infrastructure construction, some areas emphasizing construction over allocation and failing to start allocation work in a timely manner, and excessively high thresholds for public rental housing allocation and move-in.
Wang Ning pointed out that all localities should put public rental housing allocation and move-in on an important agenda, attach great importance to the problem of vacant public rental housing, effectively lower entry thresholds, implement the construction of supporting facilities for public rental housing, accelerate the promotion of public rental housing allocation and move-in, and let more families in difficulty realize the dream of “having a home to live in.”