The one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents will become the main business direction of decentralized long-term rental enterprises in the Beijing market.

Editor’s note: This article comes from Economic Observation Network by Chen Yueqin.

On December 25, the six departments of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration of Market Supervision, the Banking Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the Internet Information Office jointly issued and issued the “Opinions on Rectifying and Regulating the Order of the Housing Leasing Market” (hereinafter referred to as “Opinions”) Standardize the operating behavior of the main body of the housing rental market and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties to the housing rental, especially the lessees.

An industry insider close to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development disclosed that the introduction of the “Opinions” is a matter of unified deployment by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection”). Renovating the order of the housing rental market is one of the special disciplines of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that ignores the interests of the people. It is jointly implemented by six departments, of which the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development takes the lead.

Full process, all-round

Actually, the Opinion is not new.

On the one hand, the “Opinions” have shown the staged results of the implementation of special rectification work in various departments. Beginning in June 2019, the six departments will carry out work to rectify the chaos in housing leasing agencies across the country. Part of the content has been integrated into the “Opinions” to consolidate the results of special rectification and institutionalize and normalize the rectification work.

On the other hand, new rectification plans proposed by various localities were first introduced after the six departments reached an agreement. “According to the previous process, it may take several months for approval, but this time it was issued within a few weeks. All departments and local governments attach great importance to it and respond actively and implement it. The rectification work is led by the Ministry of Housing and Construction. The Central Discipline Inspection Commission reported that it was rare in previous work. “

Analysis of the above-mentioned persons is that the important point of this Opinion is that the six departments have collectively promulgated policies on rectifying the leasing market, and the Opinion relates to the entire leasing process, comprehensive operating and management specifications, and comprehensive And meticulous.

The beginning of the “Opinions” emphasized the importance and urgency of regulating the housing rental market. “Rental housing is an important way to solve the housing problems of new citizens such as urban migrant workers and new employment college students.”

The source said: “In most first- and second-tier cities in China, the proportion of renters is greater than that of buyers. Taking the Beijing market as an example, a large number of residents have higher and more common demand for renting houses. If the order of the housing rental market is chaotic, the basic living rights of tenants will not be guaranteed, which will seriously affect the lives of residents. “

TargetIntermediaries and housing leasing companies illegally violate the law and regulations with regard to security deposits and rents. The “Opinions” practitioners, listing information release, rental housing reform behavior, financial risks of housing leasing, housing rental management service platform, housing rental normalization management mechanism, Carry out management constraints and risk prevention for the whole process.

Specifically, in terms of practitioners, the “Opinions” requires real estate agencies to not earn the difference in housing rental, and the leaser and lessor should not re-charge commission if the lease contract expires. Real estate agencies and housing leasing companies indicate “real estate brokers” or “housing leasing” in their business scope.

The above person explained that the real estate brokerage agency is the renting agency, which only provides the intermediary service. The lease is still the contract between the landlord and the tenant, and the intermediary only serves the intermediary service. Long-term rental apartments and other leasing companies are equivalent to the second landlord. The company rents the house from the landlord first, and then re-rents it to the tenant to provide services. In this process, the tenant signs a contract with the leasing enterprise. This requirement has been specified in the “Measures for the Management of Real Estate Brokers” issued in 2011. Real estate brokerage agencies and real estate brokers must not buy and sell (rent) houses at high prices to earn the difference.

Different places

A new method of the “Opinions” is to “sublet units or individuals with more than 10 units (rooms) to handle market entity registration in accordance with the law.” The above person explained that many “black” landlords who have not been filed with the local Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau are renting out multiple houses, and their scales are even based on the operation of enterprises. If this type of “black” second landlord rolls the money, the legitimate rights and interests of the tenants will be difficult to protect.

The above person also revealed that during the discussion stage, cities represented by Beijing and Shenzhen had different opinions on the “10 sets” standard-cities represented by Shenzhen suggested the registration threshold of “10 sets” Increase a bit, because “10 houses” not only constrains units, but also includes individual rental housing. This is a relatively large city in urban villages, especially in the south, and it is more difficult to implement specific policies. “In fact, the guidance (maintaining 10 sets as the standard) is strictly restricted.

In response, a reporter from Economic Observation Network asked whether this regulation can be adjusted appropriately according to local conditions. The source pointed out that the possibility is unlikely, “because the opinions are already very clear.”

It is worth noting that the regulations regulating the behavior of leased housing reconstruction point out that local governments can formulate policies such as business reform and housing reform and work in accordance with local regulatory documents.

This kind of cities needs to have a certain scale of land for business reform, housing reform and housing reform in order to be eligible for the reform. Conditions vary from place to place, so it is difficult for the Ministry of Housing and Construction to unify standards. At present, Foshan and other places have issued relatively mature specifications. Guangzhou’s plan is in the process, but Shenzhen currently has no relevant plan.

“Shenzhen is special. Its idle commercial office space and industrial plants are very limited. It is difficult to implement lease policies such as commercial reform and industrial reform. For example, Shenzhen allowsFor people renting a house, the real estate tax is reduced or exempted by 4%. In some places, it is also recommended to change the housing for business and housing. The person said, “At present, Shenzhen’s relevant policies are not clear (commercial reform and housing reform, 4% of real estate tax reduction and exemption) this standard. “

Strengthening supervision, but not a complete ban

Another important point of the Opinions is that in terms of preventing financial risks in housing leasing, it makes explicit requirements on the loan term and loan amount of the housing rental loan business, and calls for strengthening the adoption of “high-in, low-out”, “long-term short-term payments”. And other high-risk housing leasing companies.

In the past two years, one of the reasons for the explosion of long-term rental apartments is that many leasing companies have used the intermediate difference between overcharged rents and late payment of homeowner rents to form a pool of funds to collect housing in advance in a larger range and faster. Expansion, once the capital chain breaks, the company thunders, there are multiple disputes upstream and downstream, forming a series of social problems.

In this regard, the Opinions require that local governments instruct housing leasing enterprises to set up a supervision account for lease funds in banks, and include rents and deposits into the supervision account; among the rental income of housing leasing enterprises, the proportion of housing rental loans must not exceed 30 %, Those exceeding the ratio should be adjusted in place by the end of 2022.

The source revealed that during the formulation and discussion stage of the “Opinions”, there were opinions suggesting that enterprises with operating models such as “high entry and low exit” and “long-term short-term payment” should be strictly prohibited. “Although this model is relatively risky, it belongs to the normal operating behavior of an enterprise, and government departments should not interfere with it excessively by administrative means.”

“It’s not to not do it (such companies), but to strengthen supervision.” The person explained that the opinion pointed out that companies with operating models such as “high entry and low exit” and “long-term short-term payment” should be included. The key monitoring objects of the department are to strengthen the filing of lease contracts, and their rents and deposits are deposited into the accounts monitored by government departments. Even with high entry and low exit, money must always flow in a visible account, not into the account of a private business owner.

After the “Opinions” were promulgated, long-term rental companies will see the peak of thunderstorms and other opinions in the press. The person also pointed out that the types of leasing enterprises, such as “high entry and low exit”, “long-term short-term payment”, and high-leverage use of rent loans, are inherently more risky. Once they are thundered, they involve lessees in units of one hundred. Social issues of immediate interest are not only the responsibility of one side of the housing system, but local governments will pay more attention to them. Subsequently, the local government will try to restrict the behavior of the legal representative of the high-risk long-term lease enterprise as soon as possible. Once the thunderstorm occurs, it will promptly control the main body of the enterprise, let it slowly repay the debt, and protect the rights of the tenant as much as possible.

For more than a month from Beijing, such as eggshell, eggshell and other long-term rental apartments negotiated with the owner to reduce prices, the person believes that this is the result of the market’s independent adjustment according to changes in supply and demand.

After removing the “partition wall”, long-term rental companies have reduced n + 1 extra rent, and are reducing housing prices from the listing end to save money.

The rent squeezed from the landlord willWill it eventually drive down Beijing’s overall rent levels? The person held a negative attitude, “There is no reason for the enterprise to lower the overall rent level, which is not in line with business logic.” This is just a countermeasure for companies to reduce vacancy costs during the off-season of renting houses. Moreover, the scope of adjustment contracts negotiated by related companies and intermediaries does not exceed 1% of Beijing’s overall housing.

From the monitoring data of Zhuge looking for a house, the Beijing rental market is indeed cooling recently. According to the monitoring data, the Beijing leasing market is indeed cooling recently. In the 51st week, the monthly rent in Beijing continued the downward trend, with an average price of 90.92 yuan / square meter, a decrease of 0.66% month-on-month. In terms of separated rooms, the monthly rent of one bedroom in Beijing is 5564 yuan / square meter, the monthly rent of two bedrooms is 6649 yuan / square meter, and the monthly rent of three bedrooms is 10559 yuan / square meter. The three-bedroom decline was the largest at 0.86%.

The agency ’s rental report also mentioned that “at this time is the off-season of the leasing market, the increase in supply at the end of the year, the decline in demand, and the decline in rents are normal.”

Zhao Qingxiang, secretary general of the Beijing Real Estate Agency Association, told the Economic Observer that after removing the partition wall, long-term rental companies will communicate with the owners to reduce prices; on the other hand, the one-bedroom and two-bedroom rents will become decentralized. The main business direction of long-term rental companies in the Beijing market.