Lessons Learnt from Chinese Housing Development the Case of Affordable Housing and Its Funding

Abstract

Dated back to the opening up policy, Chinese economy had been rising tremendously, coupled with achievement, though housing challenges across the country greatly arose. Under the traditional planned economy since 1949, entirely housing construction became the State responsibility. As a result of lack of finances, new housing production has not emerged while nation population on rise. Till 1988 when Urban housing reform existed as proposed strategy of affordable housing for the ordinary households through the private housing market. However, the strategy faced numerous obstacles such as lack of sec-ond hands market, an undeveloped real estate profession, indistinct land and property and property regulation plus absence of proper property management support. Amid these obstacles, the lack of housing ?nance would appeared to be a vital problem. Government Introduction of housing provident fund (HPF) scheme in 1991 applied as right measures for curving housing funding problems, under the Housing development fun, all employees required to contribute a percentage of their incomes to housing funding problems and employers contributed a similar amount. individual workers Accounts were opened with Construction Bank of China. Currently workers allowed to withdraw their housing development savings at retirement period, instead their application for their housing development savings as homes purchases in housing market. This has been implemented to the letter in most cities in China, regardless of variations of operational schemes and architectural demands in consideration to geological that varies from locality to another [1]. Applying an experiential research of the housing development savings Scheme in Shanghai as a case research, this paper reviews the role of the HPF in ?nancing affordable housing expansion in most parts of China.