On August 31, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on "Efforts to Realize Housing for All People". Relevant leaders of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development attended the meeting and gave speeches and answered reporters' questions.

On the same day, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development officially issued the "Notice on Preventing Major Demolition and Construction Issues in the Implementation of Urban Renewal Actions" (Jianke [2021] No. 63, hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). 21 days. From this we can see that in the era of "housing to live", urban renewal policies have undergone new changes:

Strengthen the housing security function of urban renewal

According to recent policy actions, the realization of “housing and housing” for all people through various measures is already one of the core programs of the government’s work. As one of the key tools, further strengthen the level of construction and operation of affordable housing.

In the 2021 government work report, it is proposed to do its utmost to help new citizens and young people alleviate housing difficulties. At today's press conference, the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development proposed that in the future, the establishment of a housing security system with public rental housing, affordable rental housing and shared property housing as the main body will be accelerated; during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the development of affordable rental housing will be the focus To further improve the housing security system, increase the supply of affordable housing, and strive to achieve housing for all people.

Therefore, we can see that future urban renewal projects will further complement the functions of affordable housing and the shortcomings of rental housing; increase the number of affordable housing, especially rental housing, through various methods such as demolishing the old and building new ones, and renovating the stock. supply.

In addition, the construction level and construction standards of affordable housing will also be higher than in the past. As stated in the "Notice": We must respect the willingness of residents to resettle and encourage local and nearby resettlement to improve living conditions. Maintain neighborhood relations and social structure, and the local and nearby resettlement rate of urban renewal units (districts) or project residents should not be less than 50%.

However, subject to the requirement in the "Notice" that "in principle, the area of urban renewal units (districts) or demolished buildings in the project should not be greater than 20% of the current total building area", the supply of affordable housing and rental housing will increase. The use of existing building renovation, strengthening the use of inefficient land and other methods to achieve. This will require urban renewal projects to be more detailed in the preliminary investigation and implementation framework design, from "simple and crude" to "slow work and meticulous work".

Regulating the operation of the real estate market with urban renewal

The stable operation of the real estate market is the basic condition for "common prosperity" and "housing for all people". Combined with the current supervision and reform of the real estate market, this is the unswerving direction of the macro policy. Therefore, future urban renewal will not only become a tool for real estate development, but will also become an important vehicle for regulating the local real estate market.

The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development proposed at the meeting that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development focused on implementing the main responsibility of the city and urging the city government not to use real estate as a means of stimulating the economy in the short term around the decision of the State Council. In the future, we will continue to fully implement the long-term mechanism of the real estate market, stabilize land prices, stabilize housing prices, stabilize expectations, and promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market.

Therefore, the future urban renewal also needs to combine the "stabilizing land prices, housing prices, and stabilizing expectations" to set work goals; on the one hand, urban renewal will increase and improve the multi-channel supply of the housing market, and on the other hand, urban renewal will satisfy urban residents. The overall demand for housing is stabilized and the overall expectation is stabilized to achieve the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.

In other words, future urban renewal projects will be further led and planned by local governments, and enterprises can participate in the market, but it is by no means a first- and second-level linkage development, nor a profit-oriented development model.

For local governments, urban renewal is definitely not a change of "land finance", but an important part of improving urban functions, infrastructure and public services to "make up for shortcomings"; it can be said that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period What kind of urban development answers the local government can hand over is closely related to the implementation efficiency of local urban renewal projects.

Urban renewal should pay attention to the increment of stock

In the "Notice", the most concerned is that "except for the addition of necessary public service facilities, no large-scale increase in the construction scale of the old city, no breakthrough in the original density intensity, no increase in the bearing pressure of the resources and the environment, in principle, the city The renewal unit (zone) or the ratio of demolition and construction within the project should not be greater than 2", which means that the demolition and construction of the new part of urban renewal is quite limited, which is quite different from the previous understanding in the market.

In this regard, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development also gave explanations and guidance:

One is to control large-scale demolition. In addition to illegal buildings and buildings that have been identified as dangerous by professional institutions, existing buildings cannot be demolished on a large scale, in fragments, and in a concentrated manner;

The second is to control large-scale expansion. The old urban area is inherently dense and strong, so it is necessary to prevent aggravating the environmental load on urban traffic and municipal safety;

The third is to respect the wishes of residents. Do not carry out large-scale demolition and relocation in different places, support local and nearby resettlement, encourage house owners and users to participate in urban renewal, and promote urban renewal with the model of co-building, co-governance and sharing a better life home;

The fourth is to control the increase in housing rents. In some places, large-scale demolitions and large-scale construction have brought difficulties to the people in renting houses. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the cost of renting houses for citizens, especially low-income groups with difficulties.

Therefore, the future urban renewal must shift from the large-scale incremental construction in the past to the transformation of stock quality improvement and incremental structural adjustment; Good stock of urban renewal and transformation, organic upgrading, and effective activation of various tasks.

Moreover, under the goal of "dual carbon", the development focus of future cities will also shift from "demolition of the old and building new" to sustainable development; supporting policies for the transformation, upgrading and utilization of existing projects will inevitably continue to be improved, both for urban renewal projects Providing relevant evidence is also the only way for local governments to achieve carbon emission management.

Do not increase hidden debts, explore sustainable development

Among the topics in 2021, "local hidden debt" is a hot word; everyone knows that illegally increasing local government debt and hidden debt is now an absolute red line, and urban renewal projects are no exception.

At the recent press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development also proposed that urban renewal should strengthen overall planning, insist on urban physical examination and evaluation first, not increase local hidden debts, and explore sustainable urban renewal models with government guidance, market operation, and public participation. , To attract social forces to participate in urban renewal.

In future urban renewal projects, the review of project operation modes, investment and financing arrangements, and sources of income will inevitably be strengthened; it is required that urban renewal projects must achieve the goal of "overall balance", and the government is also not allowed to increase credit and credit in violation of regulations. The bottom line guarantee will further promote the market-oriented operation of urban renewal projects.

Therefore, on the basis of the government's overall planning and adherence to public welfare, the number of participants in urban renewal is expected to increase and change compared with the past; while reducing the attributes of real estate development in urban renewal, it will strengthen the public welfare attributes and reduce the risk of investment and development. This attracts the entry of low-cost funds from multiple channels and brings investors relatively stable and reasonable returns.

Combined with the previous reform of the capital system of infrastructure projects by the State Council, urban renewal is expected to become the latest blue ocean in the field of market-oriented operation of infrastructure investment and an important battlefield for leading infrastructure companies and financial institutions. Editor/Xu Shengpeng