SHENZHEN is considering building 35,000 affordable commercial homes for professionals and sandwich families, those who cannot afford commercial property but do not qualify for government assistance.
The construction of 9,000 apartments will begin this year.
The prices of the apartments will be no higher than the average market price and apartment owners would not be able to take full ownership of the property until the 11th year, a city government meeting was told Saturday.
In the first 10 years, the apartments could only be sold to the government.
Applicants should have Shenzhen hukou and must have had city medical insurance for at least five years. In addition, they must not own property and must not have had a housing transaction record in the past five years.
People found falsifying documents to apply for the housing would be disqualified for life.
Also at Saturday s meeting, the government decided to offer affordable commercial housing or pay subsidies to professionals accredited by the city government.
Professionals who do not own an apartment in the city and have paid medical insurance for three years can apply for affordable commercial apartments. The government will offer subsidies if they rent.
The city will start building 73,000 affordable apartments before Oct. 30 and expects to complete about 10,000 apartments by the end of the year.
Housing authority statistics show the average price of commercial apartments in Shenzhen was 19,424 yuan (US$2,967) per square meter in March, a fall of 5 percent compared with February.
This is the first time this year prices have fallen below 20,000 yuan per square meter.
In March, a total of 2,666 new apartments were sold, 660 more than in February.
(Han Ximin)
