Shanghai's first "Housing Purchase and Replacement" model signing to ease rental pressure for new residents and young people

On March 31, Shanghai’s first “home acquisition and swap” model signing took place in Jing’an District. The signing marks a breakthrough in Jing’an District’s efforts to revitalize existing housing stock through market-based means and efficiently raise affordable rental housing, providing a replicable and scalable pilot practice for Shanghai’s citywide work to gather affordable rental housing and improve residents’ housing conditions.

At the event, resident Mr. Shi, as the first applicant, signed an existing-home acquisition contract separately with the district’s affordable housing company and a purchase agreement with the developer of a newly built commercial housing project, indicating that the “home acquisition and swap” model has been fully implemented end to end—from sourcing and storing housing units, to residents’ swaps, to raising affordable rental housing. According to the information provided, during the “14th Five-Year Plan and the 15th Five-Year Plan” period, Jing’an District plans to add approximately 13,000 units (rooms) of affordable rental housing. As a core urban area of Shanghai, Jing’an has tight land resources, and the traditional model can no longer fully meet the incremental demand for affordable rental housing. To further broaden the housing sourcing channels, Jing’an District has developed this innovative “home acquisition and swap” model, injecting new momentum into the effort to raise affordable rental housing.

Under the model design, the Jing’an District affordable housing company serves as the implementing entity, follows market-oriented principles, and acquires small, self-contained existing housing units within the district with clear property rights and an appropriate total price. After the housing units are uniformly standardized and renovated, they are all incorporated into the district-level affordable rental housing management system. Using standards lower than the market rent in the same area, the program provides targeted housing support for groups such as new citizens and young people. This move not only effectively expands the volume of affordable rental housing supply and optimizes the supply layout, but also more precisely addresses regional shortcomings in rental housing, meeting diverse and multi-level housing needs. At the same time, the model opens up a new channel for residents with housing improvement needs: residents can first lock in potential newly built commercial housing units in Jing’an District and their purchase requirements, and then submit an application for the acquisition of their old home to the district affordable housing company; the district affordable housing company provides residents with housing vouchers dedicated for the swap, enabling a closed-loop swap of “standardized disposition of the old home and smooth purchase of the new home.”

It is reported that the “home acquisition and swap” pilot is both a key measure for Jing’an District to improve the housing system that supports both renting and purchasing, and an innovative practice to revitalize stock assets and optimize the allocation of housing resources. By converting existing housing with superior location and convenient transportation into affordable rental housing, it quickly alleviates rental pressure on new citizens and young people, and significantly enhances the region’s ability to attract talent and its service capacity. (CCTV reporter Ning Wanting and Cheng Yilin)

Edited by/Zhang Li