Homes at risk

[Randy W]

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People from time-to-time talk about buying a home in a rural area. This article talks about why that may not be a good idea, unless you are fully aware of what you're getting into.

 

Homes at risk.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/832427.shtml?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer9b9bc&utm_medium=facebook#.Uq-hl56VNQA

 

 

. . . Beijing launched a campaign against houses "with limited property rights."

This term refers to houses built on communally owned rural lands without official permission. Local villagers often sell land in order to raise money, but such homes lack government authorization or ownership certificates. With housing prices skyrocketing in the city, suburbanites have been buying up village land for new homes. But these properties aren't protected by the law.

The Beijing authorities launched a massive campaign to "rectify" such houses in March. A total of 18,000 homes have been demolished, covering an area of 10.44 million square meters, the Beijing Daily reported.

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In China, urban land is owned by the State while rural land is under collective ownership, supposedly for different uses.

The use of national land is strictly controlled, and change of use should be approved by the land and resources departments and planning bureaus at the upper-level government.

Even though houses built in urban areas are alienable property, it remains illegal to sell houses built on rural land to outsiders. But with villagers increasingly abandoning their hometowns as migrants, and many areas swallowed up by urban growth, experts say that the lack of property rights disempowers rural Chinese.

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"These properties take up a lot of farmland. The central government imposes a harsh penalty on the illegal construction of such housing, and buyers should be on alert when purchasing these houses," Song, told the Global Times.

 

Edited December 17, 2013 by Randy W (see edit history)