Yangzhou to stick to housing policy

The policy to encourage and reward individuals who purchase refined decorated houses will not be revoked, Sun Wei, deputy director of Housing Management Bureau of Yangzhou city, told Xinhua News Agency on May 9.

Housing-management authorities in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, released the policy on May 7, stating that, if the construction area of the refined decoration house is 90 square meters or below, buyers should be given a reward worth six thousandths of the contract price. For houses between 90 square meters and 120 square meters, the reward decreases to five thousandths; for the houses between 120 square meters and 144 square meters, the reward is four thousandths.

According to the reports, the policy is scheduled to be implemented as a pilot test as of July 1 for one year.

Sun said Yangzhou will strictly follow the central government's policy to restrict sales of residential properties, but the city has no plan to revoke the stimulus policy.

The policy has rapidly created widespread media commentary about whether that offer will come into conflict with the central government's real estate restrictions.

In response, Yangzhou City Housing Authority to release an explanation, claiming that the policy has been drafted on the basis of a document called The advices for accelerating refined decoration house developments and construction implementation issued by the general office of Jiangsu provincial government. It demands that, by 2015, 40 percent of new housing around the city center of Yangzhou should be refined decoration houses.

Therefore, to achieve this goal, Yangzhou City has introduced the policy to encourage buyers.

An officer from the Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of Jiangsu Province points out that implementation of the policy is compatible with the requirements of building a conservation-minded society.

Currently, refined decoration houses that are available for sale on the market are far from meeting the projected 40 percent target.

The effectiveness of Yangzhou's bonus buy policy is still uncertain at this point, China Securities Journal reported.