A NEW measure that restricts companies from purchasing new or pre-owned commercial housing was introduced to prevent individuals from registering companies for housing speculation, Shenzhen’s urban planning, land and resources commission said on its official WeChat account Tuesday.

The commission announced new measures Tuesday that target companies, public institutions and individuals in order to limit the purchase and resale of apartments as part of the city government’s efforts to tame the housing market.

Under one of the new measures, companies are not allowed to purchase new or pre-owned commercial housing. They are also barred from reselling newly purchased business apartments within five years of the ownership certificates being issued.

The commission said the curbs were put in place because in recent months more than 20 percent of the apartments on sale in some popular housing projects had been snapped up by companies.

Some cash-rich buyers would apply to purchase houses through companies they had registered, driving up prices and putting pressure on non-speculators, commission officials said while interpreting the restrictions.

Official statistics also showed that over the past one and a half years, 16.9 percent of the new business apartments in Shenzhen were sold to companies.

Shenzhen announced the real estate curbs on companies in reference to practices in Beijing and Shanghai, the officials said.

“The introduction of the policy is timely and necessary,” the WeChat post reads.

As for prohibiting individuals from reselling newly purchased commercial apartments within three years of the ownership certificates being issued, the commission said the new curbs will be helpful in “restraining short-term speculation and irrational housing purchases.”

In 2017 alone, the number of pre-owned flats that saw two transfers of property ownership in three years accounted for 46 percent of the total transactions, according to official statistics.

The new rules also make obtaining mortgage loans to qualify for home purchases more difficult for those who have been divorced. The reasons behind this is Shenzhen has seen a significant increase in speculation related to pre-owned homes, the commission said.

Placing curbs on those who get divorced in order to speculate on housing is also good for promoting social ethics and public morality, according to the commission.

In conclusion, the commission said the new measures are conducive to further regulating the property market and ensuring openness, justice and equality in the housing market. (SD News)