Beijing solicits opinion on house-renting draft

BEIJING - Beijing authorities have began soliciting public opinion on a draft house rental policy aimed at protecting the rights of tenants.

According to the draft, governments at the district level should increase supply of houses available for rent around industrial parks and on collectively-use land. Newly built houses should be rented to those working in the industrial parks or in the vicinity, and the area should be equipped with education and medical facilities.

An online supervisory platform will be set up, which will provide house rental information, electronic rental contracts and applications, and supervision of transactions, the draft said.

The draft also guarantees the education rights of tenants' children. It said Beijing residents who do not own houses can apply for their children to receive compulsory education in the area near their rented home, provided that they have lived in the area for at least three years and one of the couple has worked in the area for at least three years.

Non-Beijing residents can also apply for their children to receive compulsory education in the area of their rented houses, according to the draft.

Beijing residents renting government-subsidized housing such as public rental houses can have their hukou, or household registration, registered and transferred to the houses, the draft said.

In May, Beijing authorities said they would increase the supply of houses for rent within the next five years, and that 500,000 new houses would be built.