Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development ("MOHURD") has issued the Opinions on Backing Beijing and Shanghai's Introduction of the Pilot Program of Houses Jointly Owned by the Government and Occupiers (the "Opinions").
The Opinions provide for targets eligible for homes with joint property rights, the management system, subjects in charge of the operating management, etc. Further, the Opinions state that such jointly owned houses should be supplied to certain eligible groups of people haunted by housing problems, particularly the family without a residential house, and the range of targeted beneficiaries should be determined respectively by the municipal people's government. Additionally, the Opinions call for formulating detailed administrative measures for houses with joint property rights, pointing out that the most important task is to establish a thorough mechanism to manage jointly owned houses, including rules on the allotment, pricing, division of property rights, house use management, and transfer of property rights, to ensure that these jointly owned houses are for accommodation rather than speculation. Furthermore, it should be made clear that the proportion of property right over such houses will be held by state-owned institutions on behalf of the government, and these institutions should be responsible for relevant affairs, such as signing the sales contracts with house buyers, managing the daily use, repurchasing these houses and trading them on the market again. According to the Opinions, homes with joint property rights between the government and occupiers should be of small and medium size in most cases, and the land supply for this purpose should be guaranteed.