Shenzhen will appropriate a record 14 land lots this year to construct 24,000 government-subsidized apartments, mostly for public rental.
Covering an area of 1.46 million square meters, most of the 14 lots are located in areas with convenient transportation, such as Henggang and Kuichong central areas in Longgang District, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday (Aug 5).
According to a housing plan for 2010, the city will begin construction of 50,000 government-subsidized apartments with a total floor area of 2.8 million sqm. Each apartment will be no more than 60 sqm.
Yin Xiangwu, an insider in the city's real estate industry, said: "Such a large land supply shows the government's strong commitment to improving housing supply. People's living conditions will improve significantly if the city manages to build 50,000 government-subsidized apartments in the coming three years."
The Ministry of Land and Resources required in March that land for government-subsidized apartments should account for more than 70 percent of the total land supplied for residential use this year.
Land supply for residential use in the first half of the year increased 99.2 percent in the country over last year, and 29 cities increased their land supply for government-subsidized apartments, according to recent statistics from the ministry.
However, Shenzhen released no new lots in the first half of the year, bolstering criticism of the government's construction of luxury apartments for public servants.
He Chengjun, a vice manager with a local real estate company, said local governments had neither the motivation nor the money to construct sufficient subsidized apartments. But the planning and land resource commission said it had appropriated funds for the housing.
(By Li Hao)
