In order to rescue the real estate market, several local governments in China have started to calculate using farmers’ homesteads as leverage, encouraging farmers to give up their rural homesteads and buy houses in cities, sparking a wave of online opposition. Mainland Chinese citizens have voiced their concerns, stating that homesteads are the basic guarantee of farmers’ livelihoods and must not be abandoned. Some even believe that the government has run out of proper solutions.
Recently, new real estate policies have been introduced in places such as Fengyang, Anhui, Nantong, Jiangsu, and Ezhou, Hubei, to incentivize farmers to abandon their rural homesteads and purchase homes in urban areas. Fengyang County government in Anhui announced that farmers voluntarily giving up their rural homesteads and buying houses in cities by the end of this year will receive a one-time housing incentive of 50,000 RMB.
Nantong City in Jiangsu revealed its “Ten Policies” for real estate, which includes providing additional financial incentives totaling 1.5% of the total house purchase amount in the main urban area up to June 30 next year. Those who voluntarily exit or give up their rural homesteads to buy houses in the city will also be eligible for certain monetary rewards. Similarly, Ezhou in Hubei proposed a similar policy, encouraging rural residents to buy homes in the city by offering subsidies based on the area of the homestead surrendered.
A media commentator from Henan expressed concerns about the implications of allowing the free trade of homesteads, which could lead to unfair distribution of land resources and harm farmers’ rights. Unlawful individuals might exploit this opportunity for land speculation, potentially triggering social conflicts and tensions.
An article in mainland China’s “First Financial” highlighted that homesteads are crucial for ensuring farmers’ well-being and rural social stability, emphasizing the need to maintain policy stability in this regard. Homestead reform should adhere to principles of voluntariness, fairness, compensation, and effective utilization.
Homesteads, under China’s household registration and land system, refer to collectively owned land for building residences by agricultural populations without the need to pay land fees, providing welfare and social security functions. Properties built on homesteads belong to individual farmers who have usage rights but not full ownership.
A farmer from Sichuan named Ren Fei expressed bewilderment at the focus on homesteads to rescue the real estate market, questioning why the government is targeting those without housing demands when there are other policy tools available. Ren Fei argued that impoverished individuals, mostly elderly residents in rural areas, would struggle to afford homes in cities with the money obtained from selling their homesteads. Moreover, with the current economic conditions and job scarcity in cities, they might face difficulties in buying a house on mortgage and risk losing their only asset – their homestead.
The article continued to raise doubts about the government’s intentions and speculated that the push to sell rural homesteads might serve real estate developers’ interests while undermining the foundation of rural communities. It also criticized the approach as exploiting the most vulnerable segment of society without considering their well-being.
Furthermore, a netizen questioned if the rural residents would once again have to bear the burden of the situation and criticized the government for proposing such measures that could potentially strip farmers of their only assets, labeling it as either ignorant or malicious. Another commenter pointed out the ulterior motive of some regions supporting real estate developers under the guise of maintaining fiscal stability.
Former migrant worker and Chinese human rights activist Mr. Zhang expressed concerns about potential coercion or manipulation by authorities to implement the policy agenda. He drew parallels with past instances of forced evictions during the real estate boom era, highlighting the possibility of similar tactics being employed to enforce the current homestead policy. Zhang warned that the forced displacement of farmers could lead to further desolation of rural areas, foreseeing a bleak outcome.
The ongoing debate surrounding the fate of rural homesteads reflects wider societal concerns about the welfare of farmers and the potential consequences of government policies aimed at revitalizing the real estate market.