In March 2013, the Guangdong government released its urbanization plan as part of the 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015), and it includes allowing farmers to transfer their contracted lands, homes or homesteads to acquire estate income. What reforms do the authorities expect to implement regarding the homestead principle?

Answered by: Liu Shouying

The problems of China’s homestead system concern its three major characteristics: welfare, identity and free allocation. If you belong to a village, the village has a housing allotment for you for free, and this is inconsistent with the Real Right Law of the People's Republic of China. The homestead can be real property only if its characteristics are changed. There is a long way to go.

It will only be a matter of time before the homesteads enter the market. The functions and value of housing sites vary and the government should carry out pilot reforms of the housing system and come up with some practical regulations, then expand it to the national level with relevant laws. We don’t have any historical precedent, so we can perhaps first choose some pilot regions and regulations, and we could later expand the reform and legislate laws.