Govt sells low-rent housing equities to raise cash

JINAN - Local governments in China are using the sales of equity in low-rent public housing units to cope with capital pressures, as the country plans to provide 36 million new affordable-housing units within five years for low-income people to buy and rent.

The government of Pingyuan county, in East China's Shandong province, has sold partial equities of 140 low-rent housing units, nearly 40 percent of the county's low-rent public housing facilities, said Zhang Yongxuan, deputy director of the housing management center in Pingyuan county.

Selling some equities in low-rent public housing units could alleviate capital pressures facing local governments amid the nationwide expansion of public housing projects, Zhang said, adding that it also benefits the public as the equities were sold to low-income tenants.