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Since the privatization of the housing system was carried out by the government in the 1990s, house construction has skyrocketed in urban areas in China as well as prices have more than doubled, giving way to greedy speculation and poor income citizens'
impoverishment.

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China is in the midst of an urban revolution, with millions of migrants moving into cities every year. Since 2011, for the first time in history, more than half of China's 1.3 billion population (690 million people) are living in cities. Another 300-400 million are expected to be added to China's cities in the next 15-20 years. New Premier Li Keqiang recently proposed accelerating urbanisation in China and said it was the "main driver" of China's future economic growth.

Yet, China's urban dream may be derailed by the lack of affordable housing in cities for the existing urban poor and the massive influx of migrants.

Until the 1990s, Chinese cities were dominated by welfare-oriented public rental housing provided by either the government or public employers. Severe housing shortages, residential crowding, and poor housing conditions were common problems in cities. Over the last two decades, Chinese cities have experienced an unprecedented housing privatisation, as the Chinese government has sold public rental housing at deeply discounted prices, encouraged developers to provide new private housing and ended public housing provisions.

With the influx of both domestic and international investment, there has been an unprecedented housing boom in Chinese cities. Between 2000 and 2010, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, China constructed roughly twice the total number of houses in the UK, or about the same amount of houses that are in Japan.

As a result, housing conditions in Chinese cities has improved significantly. Residential floor space per capita in cities increased from 43 square foot in 1980 to 340 square foot in 2010, although this is still much smaller than in the US (700 square foot per person). Three-quarters of households in cities/towns (85% of all households nationwide) were homeowners in 2010, compared to about 20% in the 1980s. Even though some apartments are owned with partial property rights due to subsidies, the rate of homeownership in China is much higher than in many developed countries. For example, the comparable figure in the US is just 65%.
Unaffordable house prices
Meanwhile, house prices have skyrocketed in cities, with the national average house price increasing by 250% in the decade between 2000 and 2010. The house price-income ratio classifies much of China as "severely unaffordable". In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, a modest apartment can cost multiple millions of yuan to purchase, and thousands of yuan to rent, making housing affordability the top concern of most low- and middle- income households.

According to the latest 2010 census, there were still about 17% of urban family households living with "housing difficulty", defined by the government as less than 13 metres square living space per person. This measure did not even include those with the worst housing condition, often people living in dorms in so-called "collective households". With the lack of affordable housing, the urban poor has to live in unconventional, illegal housing, such as dorms in basements and bomb shelters (tenants are called "mouse tribe", shu zhu), abandoned containers, roof top apartments, make-shift rooms, group rented apartments, and rooms in suburban villages, forming various types of slum-like communities.

In addition to the typical urban poor such as migrants and the old/sick/disabled urban residents, college graduates and young professionals cannot afford decent housing in big cities either. For example, in Beijing, tens of thousands of college graduates live in cramped, boxy rooms in Tangjialing, a dusty village outside of Beijing, and spend hours commuting to work each day (known as "ant tribe", yi zu).

Meanwhile, there are many "ghost cities", with a large number of brand new apartments unoccupied. Yet these "empty" apartments are not for the urban poor. With few investment options, the lack of property tax, and ever rising house prices, the middle- and upper- class have plunged into speculative house purchases. Developers have focused on upscale housing for sale with high profit margins, instead of affordable housing for rent. The rate of second homeownership in China is higher than that in many developed countries.

Faced with increasing discontent and potential social instability, the central government has renewed its commitment to low-income housing in recent years, pumping billions of yuan into the low-income housing development and setting ambitious targets. The year 2010 marked a turning point, with the building of 5.9 million units of subsidised housing, of which 3.7 million units were basically completed by the end of the year. Another 36 million units of subsidised housing has been planned between 2011 and 2015. The goal is to cover 20% of urban households with subsidised housing, and low-income households should enjoy at least 13 metres square per capita floor space by 2015.

While these targets are encouraging, the implementation of these housing targets is still to be seen. There have been reports about local governments relabeling existing housing as new affordable housing to meet the target, as well as affordable housing being poorly constructed, located in remote places with poor services, thus unattractive to low income households. To make things worse, subsidised housing, especially places in good locations and of good quality, often ends up in the hands of undeserving households such as middle class households working for large universities, ministries, and other government agencies, who often own multiple homes.
Migrants left out of the Chinese dream
What's more, these new efforts focus mainly on the poor with urban household registration, while millions of poor migrants are still not the policy's target. With the discriminatory Household Registration System, or hukou system (often called an internal passport system), migrants are not considered "legal" residents despite their living and working in cities long term, and they are not entitled to welfare benefits such as subsidised housing.

Even in Shenzhen, a city of migrants, a local hukou is required to access low-income housing. In others cities like Beijing, several years of local hukou is required before applying for low-income housing. Any low-income housing policy leaving out such a large segment of the poor as migrants defies the ultimate purpose of low-income housing policy - social justice, and thus is a failed one.

Due to this institutional exclusion, as well as their generally low socioeconomic status, millions of migrants have been completely left out of the "Chinese Dream" of a decent home for all. Without government subsidies, even just renting a decent apartment in the formal market is beyond most migrants' means, let alone purchasing one. As a result, most migrants are forced to find temporary housing such as factory dorms, basements, and illegal housing built by suburban villagers.

In particular, suburban villages have been the largest provider of affordable housing for migrants forming so called "migrant enclaves". Around 50% of migrants in the Pearl River Delta live in rental housing in suburban villages; in Shenzhen 48% of all housing in the city belongs to original village residents. Because these "migrant enclaves" are technically illegal, and therefore could be demolished by the government at any time, they are often of extremely poor quality and built with the sole aim of maximising the amount of occupants they can house. Thus, migrants are forced to live in slum-like settlements at the fringe of urban society.

With rapid urbanisation/urban renewal and the government's pursuit of modernity, the limited affordable housing for migrants is under threat, with migrant enclaves being demolished/redeveloped, basements being evacuated, and old neighborhoods being gentrified. An unprecedented challenge facing the Chinese government is finding a way to shelter the massive numbers of migrants currently living in Chinese cities, as well as those who will arrive in the coming years.
The government response
So far the government's efforts have been lacking. In 2010 the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development (MOHURD) suggested that the latest rent controlled housing - Public Rental Housing ( gong zu fang) - may be accessed by qualified migrants. Yet, strict qualifications make it accessible only to a very small proportion of skilled migrants, leaving the majority of migrants in the same boat as before.

So long as one-third of urban residents are migrants without legal resident rights, urbanisation in China will remain "incomplete". To succeed, the Chinese government must make affordable housing for migrants and the growing urban population a top priority.

The central government has to ensure local governments' commitment to migrant housing through both profound reforms and financial incentives. For example, the public finance system should be reformed to allow local governments to keep a larger share of their budgetary revenue and diversify their revenue sources with more long-term, stable tax revenues replacing the lump-sum land-based revenues.

At the same time, the central and the local government should work together to mobilise developers, employers and urban villages to provide affordable housing through incentives such as low-interest loans, cheap land and tax breaks, and reforms in the land and housing system.

In particular, the government should fully recognise suburban villagers' land rights, and allow their collectively owned land to enter the land and housing market directly. With the existing dual land system in China, only local municipal governments can convert rural land into urban land for urban development. This monopolised rural-urban land conversion by the local government needs to be abolished, and housing provision by urban villages should be legalised/formalised.

In addition, as most industrial land is not used very intensively in China, employers should be encouraged to use vacant industrial land for housing development where appropriate; and developers should be required to provide affordable housing to migrants and other urban poor through inclusionary housing.

These reforms will result in a large supply of decent, affordable housing in both the public and private sector. Only then will millions of migrants achieve their housing dream in cities.

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Lack of affordable housing threatens China's urban dream - China Dialogue

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China is in the midst of an urban revolution, with millions of migrants moving into cities every year. Since 2011, for the first time in history, more than half of China's 1.3 billion population (690 million people) are living in cities. Another 300-400 million are expected to be added to China's cities in the next 15-20 years.

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A meeting of the Holland city council was held last  Wednesday by the executive director of Housing Next, which updated housing projects for 2021, focusing especially on low-income housing and single-family housing.
Robert Sabaté.

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HOLLAND - The southwest region of Ottawa County has come a long way in providing ample housing for residents, but there's more work to be done.

That's according to Ryan Kilpatrick, executive director of Housing Next, who spoke during an hourlong presentation to Holland City Council during a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 10.

The presentation served as an update on where housing inventory stands in 2021, what projects are underway and what issues remain - such as a need for low-income housing and single-family homes.
More: More: More: Downtown building demolished for condo project Shops at Westshore development receives initial approval $22M Felch Street apartment complex to break ground this spring
Housing Next was established in 2018 by several nonprofit organizations in the area, including the Greater Ottawa County United Way. The goals of Housing Next include determining how much housing is needed within the county, working with local municipalities on approval of new housing developments and ensuring projects are crossing the finish line.

According to Kilpatrick, housing is considered "affordable" if the occupant is paying 30 percent or less of their annual income. For example, an individual earning $18,000 would have a maximum monthly housing cost of $450.

"If you're spending more than 30 percent of your income on housing, that housing isn't affordable to you," Kilpatrick said.

The needs in 2018 vs. 2021
More: More: Holland Planning Commission delays UDO hearing Resthaven to open senior living center in downtown development
In 2018, Housing Next determined that one in three households in Ottawa County were over-burdened by the cost of housing. The organization also noted there were significant deficits in available housing for every income bracket.

The past three years have primarily been focused on playing catch-up, Kilpatrick said. Now, that focus will shift to providing housing opportunities for those in the lowest income bracket.

"We still have a lot of folks competing for a relatively small number of low-rent units," he said. "We're not struggling for inventory anymore. Now, we need to focus on those particular incomes."

In the southwest portion of Ottawa County - which includes Holland and Zeeland - the study in 2018 showed 848 units were needed in the lowest income bracket (less than $25,000 per year), 551 were needed in the middle income bracket ($25,000-$50,000 per year) and 535 were needed in the upper income bracket (more than $50,000 per year).

Since that study, 55 new units have entered the pre-planning stage for the lower-income bracket, leaving a need for 793 units that cost less than $625 per month. More than 800 units are under construction or slated for the middle income bracket, leaving an excess of 270 units that cost less than $1,250 per month.

Finally, nearly 900 units are under construction or slated for the upper income bracket, leaving an excess of 380 units that cost more than $1,250 per month

"We're doing well for moderate and upper income households," Kilpatrick said. "But the lowest portion is where we're still really struggling. We've got some work underway, but a lot more is necessary."

The challenges of low-income housing

Kilpatrick noted that constructions costs are a major factor in the affordability of housing.

"Brand new construction is almost always going to come in between $1,000 and $1,400 per month," he said. "A single adult would need to earn $44,000 a year or $22 an hour to afford it.

"That's a fairly common wage, but we need to remember that 60 percent of the population earns less than $20 per hour. That means new housing is only affordable to 40 percent of the population. And no matter how good that developer is, that's the cost."

Kilpatrick added the only way to offset that cost for renters is to further subsidize new housing. That, he said, can be done through two programs: the Housing Choice Vouchers Program and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit.

More commonly known as "Section 8," the vouchers program hasn't seen new funding in over a decade. As of 2010, waiting lists for vouchers stretched up to 20 years, with many municipalities permanently closed to new applicants.

"The new administration has talked a lot about adding more funding to that program," Kilpatrick said. "We need to continue to put pressure on our local representatives to make it clear that funding is needed."

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, used on the part of the developer, is a more viable option with two brackets. The first, at 9 percent, funds 80 percent of construction costs and is highly competitive, according to Kilpatrick.

The second, at 4 percent, funds 50 percent of construction costs. Kilpatrick added it takes a strong focus on one project to push it through the system, and having more than one project per calendar year is unlikely.

A third option noted in the presentation was Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). These units are currently allowed in Holland under most zoning types, but must be detached. Changes to zoning rules, including the allowance of attached ADUs, through the creation of a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) are currently under consideration by the planning commission.

"This is another opportunity for us in the long-term," Kilpatrick said. "It doesn't produce hundreds of units. You'll see a dozen or so over time. But it's a more equitable approach.

"For the last three years, we've been playing catch-up. What we don't want to do for the next 10 years is go through another surge-and-recede process. We want to support a more resilient community allowing individuals to add one or two units at a time in-keeping with the surrounding neighborhood."

Maplewood Village Condominiums, a 46 market-rate condominium project at 100 E. 40th St.

Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Ministries development of 10 single-family homes at 60 E. 40th St.

Towers on River, a 27 market-rate condominium project with retail and office space at 159 River Ave.

The River Place, a 21-unit apartment project with retail and office space at 212 River Ave. - built by GDK Construction for senior living community Resthaven

Black River Flats, a 240-unit apartment project in the larger Kensington Place Development, targeting workforce occupants at 2123 Sherwood Ave.

Shoreline Flats, a 175-unit apartment project at 16th Street and Quarterline Road, actively being leased to occupants

The problem, however, isn't just with rental housing. The average cost to purchase a home in Holland has risen to $230,000, Kilpatrick said, making it difficult for many families to own property of their own.

Magnus Capital development of 175 apartments on the northeast corner of 24th Street and Waverly Road. The development plan is slated to go before the planning commission for approval this spring.

Habitat for Humanity and Jubilee Ministries development of 42 single-family homes and townhomes at 285 W. 36th St. Site plan approval is expected to go before the planning commission soon.

Resthaven Farmstead development of at least 200 units with a variety of housing types, including single-family detached, single-family attached and apartments. The project is expected to come before the planning commission this spring.

Hope Church and First United Methodist Church development of 35 to 40 apartments on surplus property between their campuses. No details have been released yet on when this project might come before the planning commission.

"We need to shift our focus away from large, multi-family projects and toward single-family homes," Kilpatrick said. "What's really unique about Ottawa County is that we have more homeowners that are over-burdened than we do renters. Usually, it's the other way around."

Ongoing and planned projects

During the presentation, Community and Neighborhood Services Director Mark Vanderploeg walked council through each ongoing and planned housing project in the city.
- Contact reporter Cassandra Lybrink at cassandra.lybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Instagram @BizHolland.
Projects under construction include:

Projects being planned include:

Vanderploeg added that hundreds, if not more, potential units are in discussions for downtown Holland, along with anywhere from 500 to 1,000 in the Waverly Road and East 16th Street corridor.

"It's wonderful to see the private sector really kicking into gear and getting us the housing we need," Vanderploeg said.

A variety of projects are also underway or being planned in Holland Township, including The Commons at Westshore, a 266-unit project, and HOM Flats at Felch Street, another Magnus Capital development.

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Low income housing, single-family homes remain focus in Holland

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HOLLAND - The southwest region of Ottawa County has come a long way in providing ample housing for residents, but there's more work to be done. That's according to Ryan Kilpatrick, executive director of Housing Next, who spoke during an hourlong presentation to Holland City Council during a special meeting Wednesday, Feb.

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Some families are getting evicted despite of  an order issued back in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is supposed to stop people from getting evicted and forced into homeless shelters or crowded living situations where COVID-19 spreads more easily.

LLUM SOLÉ

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Sheila Ambert lies awake at night wondering if her family is about to get tossed out on the street.

"As a mother, you feel like you failed your kids," Ambert says. "You don't want them having to go through that or even knowing about it, which they do."

Ambert thought she would be protected by an order issued back in September by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that is supposed to stop people from getting evicted and forced into homeless shelters or crowded living situations where COVID-19 spreads more easily.

Already, one study has found that evictions may have caused thousands of additional deaths because of displaced families catching or spreading COVID-19.

The Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which is following the issue in many cities and states, says it has tracked nearly 250,000 eviction filings since mid-March. The CDC order is preventing many of those people from losing their homes. But many others are being evicted regardless.

The CDC protections haven't been working so well for Sheila Ambert.

The family lives in Lake Mary, Fla. Because of the outbreak, Ambert lost her job as an administrative assistant. She says her husband is making a lot less money, too. Ambert faced long delays receiving unemployment. And though she found sporadic part-time work when her savings ran out, she couldn't pay her $1,600-a-month rent.

"I need to keep the electricity, I need to buy food," she says.

In November, her landlord, Sun Lake Apartment Homes,filed an eviction case against her.

One criticism of the CDC order is that to be protected, renters have to be aware it exists and know what to do.

But Ambert did know about it and says she followed the rules. In a court filing, she said she gave the required paperwork from the CDC to her landlord.

"And I thought, 'OK, so I'm OK, I'm good,' " Ambert says.

Renters are also supposed to try to make partial rent payments. She did that too, she told the court. Tenants are supposed to try to get rental assistance money. She told the court she did that too- $4,515 paid to the landlord.

But none of that seemed to matter. The landlord pressed ahead with the case, and she got an email from the court, saying it was issuing what's called a writ of possession - giving the landlord the green light to go ahead and evict her family once the sheriff posts a notice on their door.

"I saw that email coming in, and I was like here shaking," Ambert says. "I'm scared."

There's nowhere else for the couple and their two kids to go, she says. "All our family's in Puerto Rico."

In a statement, the landlord tells NPR that evictions are "a last resort." And that "we turn to the courts for cases where eviction is legal and warranted by the facts."

After NPR contacted a local legal aid group to ask if the landlord was following the CDC rules, one of its lawyers ended up taking her case.

"If I could have an angel client for this matter, she is it," says Breezi Hicks of Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida.

Hicks now represents Ambert and filed an emergency motion to stop the eviction. She says that in a hearing, she helped Ambert show the judge that she checked all the necessary boxes and requirements to be protected by the CDC order.

"She also was able to testify to the judge that before the pandemic, she was never late on her rent," says Hicks.

The judge put the eviction on hold for now.

But most people facing eviction don't have a lawyer. Studies show only about 10% of renters facing eviction have an attorney, while 90% of landlords do.

"Landlords in some cases are just pretending that they didn't receive the declaration and moving forward with the eviction process," says Shamus Roller, the executive director of the nonprofit National Housing Law Project.

He says the CDC order should be strengthened to be a blanket eviction ban.

Now, he says, there are too many requirements and loopholes. If at any step in the process, the renter fails to show up at a hearing or join a hearing Zoom call, the landlord is often able to evict.

"Eviction courts are conveyor belts," Roller says. "And so the loopholes in the CDC order mean that many people are being evicted who should be protected under the order."

In the case of Sheila Ambert, the landlord is now arguing in a court filing that the CDC order shouldn't apply. It says the Amberts have "made no effort at all to follow the requirements under the [CDC ] declaration."

Ambert says that's just not true. For example, she told the court, she got that rental assistance, thousands of dollars paid to her landlord.

The lawyer in the case for Sun Lake apartments declined to comment on ongoing litigation.

Shamus Roller says he can't be certain what's happening with this case, but "if you are misrepresenting the facts in a case in court documents, it seems very clear to me that that is a violation of the CDC order."

On paper, there are stiff federal penalties for landlords who violate the order, including fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars and even jail time.

"The problem is," Roller says, "there has been zero enforcement, there's no consequences for that in practice."

Sun Lake apartments is listed as one of a portfolio of apartment complexes on the website of a larger company Lindemann Multifamily Management. A spokesperson says Lindemann "owns the [Sun Lake] complex, employing a management company to operate the property."

A statement, released on behalf of Sun Lake apartments says, "Sun Lake has followed the law and exhausted every measure possible short of evicting [the Ambert family.]"

The statement also says, "They have not at any time in the last six months made any effort to make a partial payment."

In a court filing, Ambert contends that after she paid one partial payment of $800, Sun Lake would not accept any more partial payments unless she made them on top of her full monthly rent, which she couldn't afford to do.

Sheila Ambert has finally found another job - scheduling people for COVID-19 vaccinations. And some of her long-delayed unemployment benefits have come through. So she has the money to start paying rent again.

But the landlord is still trying to evict her. And she says that's making it very hard to find another apartment.

"I was praying to find a place, " she says. One landlord "was nice and she said, 'I don't look at credit. I don't look at this. I don't look at that. I look at evictions.' "

"And then it hit me," Ambert says. She realized the ongoing eviction case is in the public records. "I feel like there are no options."

Now Ambert is applying to a new rental assistance fund. In December, Congress approved $25 billion to assist struggling renters and landlords. It can cover up to a year of back rent. But Roller says the money has only just started flowing to states and cities.

So Ambert is desperately hoping she can stay in the apartment while she seeks that help and pays the back rent and late fees. She wants to be able to tell future landlords that she resolved a financial hardship during COVID-19 and wasn't actually evicted.
NPR researchers Barclay Walsh and Will Chase contributed to this report.

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Renters Are Getting Evicted Despite CDC Order - 'I'm Scared'

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Sheila Ambert lies awake at night wondering if her family is about to get tossed out on the street. "As a mother, you feel like you failed your kids," Ambert says. "You don't want them having to go through that or even knowing about it, which they do."

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Last January, Wellington City Council sold this coastal land on Shelly Bay to a developer which wants to build luxury apartments. Many protesters contested.

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A group of iwi members and protestors contesting the sale of land at Wellington's Shelly Bay has served a verbal trespass notice to the developer.

The Mau Whenua group has been occupying the land since November, when Wellington City Council voted to sell and lease part of it.

The coastal land was bought by The Wellington Company which wants to build luxury apartments.

A company representative was told he was trespassing when he arrived at the occupation this morning.

Anaru Mepham of Mau Whenua said the developer needed to slow down as there were still legal issues about the sale which needed to be resolved.

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Iwi members protesting Shelly Bay sale give developer trespass notice

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A group of iwi members and protestors contesting the sale of land at Wellington's Shelly Bay has served a verbal trespass notice to the developer. The Mau Whenua group has been occupying the land since November, when Wellington City Council voted to sell and lease part of it.