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Housing subsidies cause confusion

By Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-15 07:51

Beijing officials yesterday clarified the procedures for the disbursement of the city's housing subsidies, after complaints over some applicants' eligibility.

A media investigation found that a four-year-old toddler in Shunyi district, Beijing, was enjoying low-rent housing subsidies, along with several teenagers younger than 16.

Beijing Morning Post reported that No 948 of the subsidy beneficiaries on the website of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development was a four-year-old toddler named Chen Zhuo and No 712 was born in November 1997.

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Committee officials yesterday said they have found more than 70 such cases after an investigation, but that none is unlawful.

The minors registered are from single-parent families or are orphans, both of which are eligible for the assistance, committee officials said.

The confusion arose because Beijing's low-rent housing management rules stipulate that only residents with "full civil responsibility" are eligible for the subsidies. That means only residents older than 16 should have access to the subsidies.

Their ID numbers on a list of applicants granted the low-rent housing subsidies showed that many were younger than 16 and therefore too young to receive the subsidies.

But their names could not be found yesterday on the commission's website for unrevealed reasons and the list is usually updated on the 15th every month.

Commission officials confirmed the report but an official surnamed Wang did not explain why the names were missing from the website. He said the investigation is still underway and officials will publicize the results at the appropriate time.

Last month, an incredible ID number, comprised of 18 number 1s, showed up in the public notice on welfare housing applications of Xuanwu district.

The subsidized housing projects are meant to help low-income families but average people often do something illegal to gain the benefit, experts said. Officials have urged the supervising departments to watch over the process to make it more fair.