2010-07-22 10:45

Housing experts have suggested that Beijing impose a special tax on vacant homes, in order to lower the city's vacancy rate and provide more houses to people who are in need.

"Houses should not be reduced to being investments for speculators. Their core function is to provide accommodation for people," said Wei Aiming, deputy to the People's Congress of Beijing.

The amount of water, electricity, gas and heat used at a house is a good indicator as to whether it is vacant, he suggested. If the amount of electricity used is lower than one fifth of the expected amount, the house can be officially considered vacant.

According to a survey conducted by the Urban Science Department of Beijing Union University in 2007, around 29 percent of houses in 50 Beijing residential communities had lower than expected electricity demand.

In addition, the more vacant houses a person owns, the higher the tax rate he or she should bear, said Wei.

"We have a big population but few land resources, so we cannot sit back and look unconcerned about vacant houses," Wei told METRO.

"The government has done a good job using financial tools to curb investment-led demand. Tax regulations should follow to enhance the effect," added Wei.

The rate of such homes was higher the farther the homes were from central Beijing. Between the Second and Third Ring Roads, for example, the rate of homes with electricity meters registering no use was around 20 percent. However, between the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads, the rate rose to 30 percent, according to the survey.

"The number is really daunting. It shows Beijing wastes so much space," said Zhang Jingqiu, one of the two professors who conducted the survey. The survey did not include houses listed as being up for sale.

There are no recent official statistics on vacancy rates in Beijing, according to Guo Songhai, a staff member at a think-tank associated with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, who proposed that the central government investigate the rate of house occupancy.

"If the rate is close to 30 percent, the country should impose a tax and increase ownership costs," Guo said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald.

However, many multiple-home owners have expressed anger over Wei's proposal.

"The government should protect people's interests if their properties are lawfully acquired," a man surnamed Yang said. He owns four apartments in Beijing, one for parents, one for him and his wife, and two that are vacant.

"Those two apartments are a bit far from my office, so I choose to live in them during weekend, because they are closer to vacation spots," Yang said.

"Compared with people in foreign countries who own their houses forever, we only own houses for 70 years. We have limited rights (on our apartments) already, why does the country want to take more? It's not fair," said Yang.