Chinese farmland to be used to build homes for rent
A pilot scheme has been announced by the ministry of land and resources and the ministry of housing and urban-rural development in China that will allow collectively owned agricultural land to be developed into residential properties for lease. The scheme will be introduced to 13 large Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, and aims to stabilise property prices, boost the rental market and ease the pressure on infrastructure and accommodation caused by massive populations of migrant workers living in inner city slums. China has estimated 100 million migrant workers will move to the cities to take up jobs by 2020.

China is opening up rural land for residential property development in 13 cities that will provide rental housing to ease the pressure on urban accommodation brought about millions of workers that move to the cities. Photo: Justin Jin