Shenzhen’s unified rental housing has been trending on social media these days, sparking huge controversy.
What is unified rental housing?
Unified rental, as the name suggests, is when the government uniformly acquires and stores urban village housing for renovation and upgrades of surrounding facilities, and then rents them out.
This project is a major housing security plan currently underway in Shenzhen. To put it bluntly, it means that the government-designated contractors will rent the rural houses in urban villages, renovate them, and then rent them out.
The purpose of unified rental is to accelerate the resolution of housing issues for new citizens, young people, and other groups, and to improve the supply and quality of affordable housing.
The initial intention was to solve the problems of difficult housing, expensive rent, and poor environment for Shenzhen workers, which can be considered a heartwarming project.
However, as this good livelihood project progressed, people found something amiss, which triggered heated discussions and rejection from the public.
Could it be that Shenzhen workers are cheap and like to live in the dirty and chaotic urban villages and rural houses?
A villager from Baimang Village, Nanshan District, said, his house will be subject to unified rental, and the rent offered by the government is very high, more than double the rent he rents out himself.
Yes, unified rental brings landlords high and stable rental income, so many landlords readily accept it.
So, what might unified rental bring to tenants?
Based on the current issues online and the problems faced by some people, we have summarized the main concerns and problems as follows.
First, tenants are forced to move.
The name of this huge project is “Anju Weitang Urban Village Renovation Project”, and the undertaking company is Anju Weitang, which is the Shenzhen Talent Housing and Living Group.
They rent back the houses in the urban villages, do some simple decoration, and then sublet them to the workers who are building Shenzhen.
This matter was done by Ziroom under the Lianjia Group and Xingwo and Boyu many years ago. To put it bluntly, they are second landlords. Now the Shenzhen government’s Talent Housing and Living Group takes over, with the government as the background, and becomes the largest second landlord in Shenzhen in a more legitimate way.
In order to smoothly implement the project, both carrot and stick are used to rent the houses in the urban villages. Therefore, many workers who live well have to move their families.
Recently, many residential buildings in Baimang Village, Nanshan District, have posted notices requiring residents to move out within a certain period. This unilateral eviction has made the tens of thousands of residents living in Baimang Village cry, and they have complained about their experiences on various platforms.
Some people just came to Shenzhen after graduation, some people have only been working in the company for a few days, and some people just moved in last month…
When adults move out of their rented houses, what about the children who are still in school? I don’t know, and no one has solved it so far.
Second, the house directly becomes smaller.
In order to accommodate more people and maximize profits, the previous two-bedroom and one-living room apartment needs to be changed into a three-bedroom and one-living room; the previous 30-square-meter two-bedroom and one-living room apartment needs to become at least a three-bedroom…
There may have been a small balcony before, but after the renovation, it may become someone else’s bedroom window; the living room may have been able to accommodate a table, a sofa, and a TV cabinet, but after the renovation, it may only be able to accommodate a few stools and a folding table…
After all, the price of renting the house has already doubled. Is it possible that a philanthropist will donate to you to live in a good house?
Finally, the rent will increase.
Unified rental brings landlords high and stable rental income, and it also brings tenants the same high rent and rising house prices.
After all, the wool comes from the sheep, and the tenants will ultimately bear the rent increase.
In the past, the landlord might increase the rent by one or two hundred every year, but after the unified rental, the increase will not be one or two hundred.
Moreover, the prices of each landlord were different before, and if your house was expensive, the workers could switch to his house. Now there is only one second landlord, unless you live in Huizhou or Dongguan, otherwise it’s the same everywhere.
Some people say that the starting point is good, but will it eventually become a large trust?
Of course, Zhou Baixin, a member of the Party Committee, Deputy General Manager, and Chairman of Anju Weitang of the Shenzhen Talent Housing and Living Group, told everyone very officially during an interview, don’t be afraid, we won’t raise the price much, just a little bit:
Most of the housing after the renovation will have the same rent as before the renovation, and even if some housing has high renovation costs and causes a small increase in rent, the increase will not exceed 10% of the original rent.
Yes, the rent has increased by 10%, but the furniture in the room is already equipped, you only need to move in with your bags, this money you have to pay!
This money is not just a few hundred.
We once came to Shenzhen to build a new city with the beautiful slogan of “Once you come, you are a Shenzhener”.
Only to find out in the end that wealth has not increased, income has not increased. Only the wrinkles on the face are increasing, the years on the old calendar are increasing, and the routines in the city are increasing.
Those who came to Shenzhen to build the motherland in the early years have already moved away from the core area of Nanshan. Nowadays, Futian District, Luohu District, and even Longhua District are also driving people away.
Perhaps, in a few years, people without high income and skills can only be forced to go to Huizhou and Dongguan.
If you really can’t stay, go back to the countryside!
After all, what Shenzhen needs is high-level talents with economic and technical capabilities, not people.
And who is the so-called affordable housing protecting?
I don’t know how many people still remember the incident of a wealthy woman in Shenzhen driving a luxury car and living in a public rental house, and this is just what has been reported, what about those that haven’t been reported?
Money flows to those who are not short of money, love is given to those who are not short of love, and what is left is a group of low-level workers and farmers.
However, in the forty years of rapid development in Shenzhen, which corner was not built by the hands of workers from all over the world?
Young people flock to this passionate city, wanting to fight for their future. But later, more and more young people feel helpless.
They have dedicated their youth, are used to “996”, have ruined their health, but can’t keep up with the rapidly rising house prices in Shenzhen.
Even renting a house is becoming more and more difficult.
The living costs of young people have increased, and they are squeezed out of breath in the reality of high house prices and high rents, and their personal ideals and future have become out of reach.
Whether it is a street cleaner or a worker who screws screws, they are all part of the economic development and social operation of Shenzhen. The development of the city also needs warmth. We look forward to more reasonable, fairer, and more humane policies to protect the majority of people who need to be protected.
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