China targets land hoarding by developers, reports media

BEIJING: China has unveiled rules to restrict land hoarding by developers in the latest effort to rein in the red-hot real estate sector, a state newspaper reported on Monday, Sept 27.

Developers would be banned from buying land if they were found having hoarded land for more than one year or illegally transferred land, the official China Securities Journal quoted a circular from the Ministry of Land and Resources and Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The government has rolled out a slew of measures since April to cool the property market, including higher down payment and mortgage rates. With property transactions and prices showing signs of a rebound in recent weeks, some industry experts have expected Beijing to act again.

The newspaper said the government had tightened rules on land purchases by developers to build large residential houses, but would speed up approvals of land sales for development of affordable housing and increase land supply for smaller homes in cities with high property prices.

Local governments would be banned from selling land to higher-end residential developers unless they finish allocating land lots to affordable houses and government subsidised housing, according to the circular.

China has invested about 470 billion yuan (RM216 billion) in subsidised housing for low-income families so far this year, about 60% of its 2010 plan. -- Reuters