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Housing for the poor

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-14 12:28

Now that there is a consensus on increasing spending to launch new projects and stimulate the sluggish economy, the next question is where the money needs to go and how it can be used efficiently.

Premier Wen Jiabao emphasized at the State Council meeting on Monday that the real estate market should be the top priority. Yet, it will by no means be just action to lift many real estate developers out of their financial difficulties.

Premier Wen made it clear in his speech that the investment in the real estate market in the coming three years will primarily help improve living conditions of low-income residents.

In the coming three years, the total investment in the building of affordable houses and houses to be leased to low-income families with low rent will be 900 billion yuan ($130 billion). It is estimated that 7.47 million families will be able to move into new homes with government-subsidized rent. And more than 5 million low-income families will also have new homes of their own with other government-subsidized housing projects.

In the past decades when the real estate market was full of bubbles and housing prices doubled or even tripled in just a few years, buying houses of their own was only a dream for low-income families .

The boom in the real estate market in the past decades has increased the per capita living space for urbanites to 22.6 sq m on the average in 2007 from 4.2 sq m in 1978. But there are still more than 10 million urban families whose per capita living space is smaller than 10 square meters.

It goes without saying that the housing market should not only be for the rich to always change for better and larger houses and for speculators to benefit from buying and selling houses. Rather, something must be done to improve the living conditions of the low-income families

The central and local governments launched similar projects several years ago, but not on such a large scale as this time. Now when the impact of the financial crisis makes it necessary for China to expand domestic consumption, it is right for the government to increase input in affordable and low-rent housing projects.

It will kill two birds with one stone.

On the one hand, these projects will certainly increase the demand for such raw materials as steel, cement and other construction materials, which will help save these industries from going bankrupt without orders. Construction of such houses will undoubtedly create many jobs, which will ease the increasingly heavy pressure of unemployment. So it will stimulate economic growth.

On the other hand, it is the government' obligation to let as many residents as possible to share the fruits of economic reform. By deciding to help the low-income families improve their living conditions, the central government has showed its resolve to balance the distribution of wealth.

In this sense, the social effects of these projects should be no less significant than their economic benefits.