The stock of rural homestead land is enormous and urgently needs to be activated

Land system reform is the core of the new round of rural reform, and is foundational work for once again releasing the dividends that promote rural development and accelerating the process of new-type urbanization. The rural homestead land with an enormous stock area is an important part of land reform. Getting a clear picture of the base number and usage of rural homestead land, and finding the methods and pathways to activate homestead land resources, is of great significance. Recently, the author conducted an in-depth investigation of rural homestead land in Xiaosuangou Town, Shangyi County, Hebei Province.

I. The enormous stock of rural homestead land resources urgently needs to be activated

Xiaosuangou Town is a typical mountainous township and also a typical agricultural township, with a total area of 380 sq km, governing 17 administrative villages and 48 natural villages, with a registered population of 10,985 people, of whom 7,492 are agricultural population, 5,716 are permanent residents, and 5,269 are migrant workers, the vast majority being agricultural population. According to the "Shangyi Statistical Yearbook 2012", the per capita income of farmers was 5,300 yuan, ranking second among the county's 14 townships, 18 percentage points higher than the county's per capita farmer income (4,484 yuan). According to statistics, the total area of rural homestead land in all of Xiaosuangou Town is close to 1,600 mu, but because a large number of rural laborers have gone out to work, a large number of houses in the villages have been uninhabited for a long time, and nearly half of the homestead land is in an idle state.

From the perspective of distribution, it shows a characteristic of more the more remote. From the statistical data, the 6 villages along the roadside have 353 households with 848 rooms idle year-round, with a total homestead land area of 21.97 mu, accounting for about 35% of the total homestead land area; short-term idle houses number 72 households with 193 rooms, accounting for about 8% of the total homestead land area, with idle houses accounting for about 45% of the houses in the village. The 9 relatively remote villages have 595 households with 1,615 rooms idle year-round, with a total homestead land area of 39.95 mu, accounting for about 42% of the total homestead land area; short-term idle houses number 276 households with 633 rooms, with a total homestead land area of 15.66 mu, accounting for about 15% of the total homestead land area and about 58% of the houses in the village. The 2 most remote administrative villages with 6 natural villages have 201 households with 568 rooms idle year-round, with a total homestead land area of 14.05 mu, accounting for about 55% of the total homestead land area; short-term idle houses number 91 households with 258 rooms, with a total homestead land area of 6.38 mu, accounting for about 22% of the total homestead land area, with idle houses accounting for about 78% of the houses in the village. The more remote the place, the higher the idle rate of rural houses.

From the perspective of long-term development, it shows a characteristic of more and more. Apart from the residences in Xiaosuangou Village where the town government is located, which basically do not lie idle, the out-migrant population of the remaining villages accounts for more than one-third of the whole village population, with some villages reaching half or even more than two-thirds. The in-village population is also mainly elderly, with half of the population aged 60 or above. Young and middle-aged out-migrants are rarely willing to return to live in the villages. Over the past 20-plus years, the emotional ties and connections between the out-migrant population and the villages have become fewer and fewer. Going out to work has changed from the original pattern of being at home during the busy farming season and going out during the slack season, to later going out year-round and returning home for the Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival, and now basically being away all year and occasionally coming back to visit the elderly every few years. Previously it was male laborers who went out while wives and children stayed home to farm; now more and more whole families go out, with remote small villages even reaching more than 80%. The out-migrant population has very little desire to return to the village. Apart from those who, after growing old, cannot sustain life working in the cities and are forced to return to live in the village, the proportion who voluntarily and willingly return to live in the village is quite small. Under such circumstances, as the elderly population gradually passes away, idle homestead land will increase more and more, and many villages will gradually disappear on their own.

From the perspective of housing investment, it shows a characteristic of less and less. As the willingness of out-migrant farmers to return to the village decreases year by year, investment in housing also declines year on year. Previously people earned money outside and came back to the village to build houses; now they earn money in the cities and strive to buy houses in the city. Even if they cannot afford a house in the city where they work, they choose to buy in the county seat or nearby towns. The in-village population is relatively old and has low income, the willingness to improve living conditions is not strong, and housing investment is basically limited to repairs, with very few renovations or rebuilds. In recent years, apart from the town seat where more new housing has been built and a residential building complex with a living area of 12,000 sq m, capable of housing 144 households, has been constructed, even the central villages on both sides of the road have very few newly built houses, and remote villages are basically limited to repairs, with funds mainly coming from the rural dilapidated house renovation in policy projects. As for the idle houses left behind by villagers who go out to work, in the past the owners would often come back to take care of them; in recent years, apart from those with relatives in the village to look after them, they are basically in an abandoned state, and over the years the only outcome can be collapse. Nowadays many old houses are already in a state of collapsed walls and fallen roofs.

II. Activating rural homestead land resources must be achieved through reform

According to the provisions of the "Land Administration Law", rural land belongs to the village collective, farmers only have the right to use homestead land, and villagers are only allowed to have one piece of homestead land. However, after villagers add structures and apply for and receive a homestead land certificate and a property ownership certificate, the homestead land in substance belongs to the villager's possession, the house can be rented out, the homestead land can be transferred among collective members, and it can be inherited. In reality, rural homestead land presents a fairly complex situation.

First, village hollowing and relocation and new construction coexist. Old villages in mountainous areas are generally built on the sunny side of slopes. Although this is good for drainage, the terrain is uneven and access is inconvenient. After the reform, newly built houses are generally built in areas with flat terrain and convenient transportation, and larger-scale ones often form whole-village relocation, with the old villages inhabited only by a few elderly people, or not inhabited at all, so many farming households thus have two pieces of homestead land. More villages, because homestead land within the village is tight, can only expand new housing outward beyond the village. But whether old village or new village, because the permanent population has decreased, idle houses and inhabited houses are often mixed together. At present the hollowing phenomenon is quite serious. Among the 48 natural villages in Xiaosuangou Town, the total number of hollow villages is 14, a proportion (house idle rate above 50%) reaching 29%, and the idle homestead land area reaching 230.5 mu.

Second, inter-village differences and intra-village disparities run parallel. The approved occupation standard for rural homestead land area in Xiaosuangou Town is 400 sq m, but because each village's geographical environment and land conditions differ, the actual approved occupation area in each village is not consistent, with the smallest even less than 200 sq m. Within each village, due to historical reasons, there arise differences between the area of old residences and the homestead land area of new houses, and coupled with the location of the residences, in some cases where there is vacant land alongside, phenomena of occupying more than approved and occupying before approval may occur, and the actual occupied homestead land area of villagers differs quite greatly, with the large ones even exceeding 1 mu and the small ones only just over 100 sq m.