Guangzhou rolled out the new rules of restricting house purchases on Feb 24, and formally put in place the Opinions on Implementing the State Councils' Requirements of Pushing Housing Security and Property Purchase Control (herein after referred t as the Opinions) from Feb 25 on.
The new rules don't apply to Conghua and Zengcheng county-level cities, but these two cities are required to roll out their local measures and set up objectives of controlling home price in 2011, and then submit them to the Guangzhou Municipal Government for approval before implementation.
A responsible person with the Bureau of Land Resources and Housing Management of Guangzhou Municipality said, Conghua and Zengcheng, these two county-level cities, have their authorities to set their own rules of restricting house purchases. Rules of the Opinions don't apply to them now, but this may change in the future.
Although the Opinions don't stipulate the number of houses the first-time property buyers can buy, they can only buy one in Guangzhou. The new rules also apply to houses obtained from donation and transfer of non-immediate or immediate relatives. The families which own two houses may buy a new one after they sell one.
The new rules stipulate that as from the date of promulgation, within a certain period, locally-registered families who already own one house and non-local registered families who have proof of social security contributions or income tax payments for more than one year within two years before the day of buying house can buy one house (including newly-built and second-hand houses).
Those locally-registered families who own two or more homes, non-local registered families who have one or more homes and non-local registered families who have no proof of social security contributions or income tax payments are not allowed to buy one more in Guangzhou.
The new rules require that overseas organizations or persons may buy houss according to the relevant policies issued by the state.
From the date of promulgation of the Opinions, measures of limiting house purchase must follow the relevant rules. The old rules of house purchases restriction implemented from October 15th, 2010 ceased.
(Translated by Guangzhou Association of Foreign Affairs Translators)
