Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 28th: ​​The three departments answered reporters’ questions on the "Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System"

Xinhua News Agency Reporter Wang Youling

Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the State Administration of Financial Supervision jointly issued the "Notice on Improving the Commercial Housing Sales System."Relevant responsible comrades from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the State Administration of Financial Supervision answered reporters’ questions.

Q: Please introduce the background and significance of the notice.

Answer: The commercial housing sales system is the basic system of real estate management and an important part of building a new model of real estate development.The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the national “15th Five-Year Plan” outline emphasized the need to accelerate the construction of a new model of real estate development and improve the basic systems for commercial housing development, financing, and sales.The issuance of the notice is an important measure to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council.

The first is to adapt to the objective requirements of the real estate market entering the stock era.After nearly 30 years of rapid development, the supply and demand relationship in my country's real estate market has undergone major changes. At present, the total number of second-hand housing transactions has fully exceeded that of new housing. The real estate market has entered a period of high-quality development with stock improvement and structural optimization.The commercial housing sales system that was formed in the past with a focus on pre-sales and rapid turnover no longer adapts to the new requirements of the new stage of market development and is in urgent need of reform and improvement.

The second is a powerful measure to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers.Housing has a large value and is an important asset for families.Under the commercial housing pre-sale system, home buyers can lock in the housing supply and price in advance, but "pay first and then take possession of the house", which is prone to problems such as delayed delivery of the house.By reforming and improving the commercial housing sales system, and vigorously and orderly promoting the sales of existing houses, "what you see is what you get" can be realized and delivery risks can be effectively prevented; if pre-sales continue to be implemented, pre-sale management will be improved to effectively ensure the safety of pre-sale funds.

The third is the practical need to promote high-quality development of the real estate industry.For a long time, some real estate development companies have adopted an extensive expansion model of "high debt, high leverage, and high turnover", which has accumulated hidden risks.The recent bankruptcy liquidation of Evergrande Real Estate and the public pronouncement of the Xu Jiayin case are strong proof that the shortcomings of the "three highs" model of real estate development and operation have been exposed.To change the "three highs" model, it is urgent to reform the commercial housing sales system, strengthen the supervision of pre-sale funds, guide real estate development companies to reasonably determine the scale of development and operation based on their own strength, strengthen risk awareness, and promote the stable operation and high-quality development of the real estate industry.

Q: What are the overall considerations in drafting the notice?

Answer: The notice insists on making progress while maintaining stability, establishing first and then breaking, based on the new stage and new requirements of the real estate market entering the stock era, with the goal of promoting high-quality development of real estate, and reforming and improving the commercial housing sales system.

During the drafting process of the notice, the following four principles were focused on: First, adhere to the supremacy of the people.Establish and practice a correct view of political performance, focus on safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers, promote the reform of the commercial housing sales system, and fundamentally prevent delivery risks.The second is to adhere to a problem-oriented approach.By improving the pre-sale management of commercial housing and vigorously and orderly promoting the sales of existing houses, we have effectively solved problems such as delayed delivery of some projects and incorrect goods.The third is to adhere to systematic thinking.Collaboratively promote key systems such as the real estate project company system, the sponsoring bank system, and the existing home sales system, and effectively connect the systems.The fourth is to insist on steady progress.Policies are implemented according to the different stages of construction of the project, while taking into account regional differences in real estate market development, leaving policy space for local governments to implement city-specific policies based on actual conditions, and enhancing the operability of the notice.

Q: What are the main contents of the notice?

Answer: The notice stipulates three aspects, focusing on accelerating the construction of a new model of real estate development and promoting the reform of the commercial housing sales system.

First, improve the pre-sale management of commercial housing.If a commercial housing project is pre-sold, the main structure of the individual building must be capped.Strengthen the supervision of pre-sale funds. All down payments, personal housing loans and other home purchase funds paid by home buyers should be deposited into the fund supervision account opened by the housing fund supervision agency.For commercial housing projects that have obtained a construction project planning license before the date of implementation of the notice, if pre-sale is implemented, the pre-sale conditions, pre-sale fund supervision, etc. shall be implemented in accordance with the original policy regulations.

The second is to vigorously and orderly promote the sales of existing commercial housing.From the date of implementation of the notice, existing housing sales will be given priority for commercial housing projects that have newly transferred land and commercial housing projects that have already transferred land but have not obtained a construction project planning permit; existing housing sales are encouraged for commercial housing projects that have obtained a construction project planning permit.At the same time, record-keeping management will be implemented for the sales of existing houses, and a deposit system for existing house sales will be implemented.

The third is to strengthen coordination of policies and measures.Optimize land supply management, reasonably determine the scale of real estate land supply, optimize land transfer plans, and transfer planning plans.To increase financing support, real estate projects implement a sponsoring bank system, with two-way selection between the real estate project company and the sponsoring bank. A project determines a sponsoring bank, and the sponsoring bank alone or takes the lead in forming a syndicate to provide development loans and other financing services.Improve development and construction management, optimize the project construction approval process, shorten the administrative approval time limit, and promote buyers to obtain real estate certificates simultaneously when commercial housing is delivered.

Q: In what aspects does the notice protect the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers?

Answer: Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers is the starting point and goal of promoting the reform of the commercial housing sales system.The notice runs through the people-centered development philosophy and makes the following provisions to protect the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers:

First, ensure the safety of transaction funds.The pre-sale fund supervision system will be improved, and the housing fund supervision agency will be responsible for fund supervision and management of people's house purchase funds.

The second is to ensure that the house is delivered on time.By raising the pre-sale threshold, we will vigorously and orderly promote existing home sales and "pay one hand and hand over the house" to fundamentally prevent delivery risks.

The third is to improve the quality of housing construction.By reforming the commercial housing sales system, real estate development companies will be guided to construct projects in accordance with the standards of "good houses" that are safe, comfortable, green and smart, so as to meet the people's needs for high-quality housing.

The fourth is to implement "hand over the house and hand over the certificate".Strengthen work coordination to solve the problem of difficulty and slowness in obtaining certificates for home buyers.

Q: What are the provisions in the notice regarding the connection between old and new policies?

Answer: The notice does not apply “one size fits all” in policy provisions.On the one hand, policies are implemented according to the classification of new and old projects, using "old methods for old projects and new methods for new projects."Before the date of implementation of the notice, if commercial housing projects that have obtained a construction project planning license are subject to pre-sale, the pre-sale conditions, pre-sale fund supervision, etc. shall be implemented in accordance with the original policy provisions; commercial housing projects that have not obtained a construction project planning license shall vigorously and orderly promote the sales of existing homes.On the other hand, new projects can be sold as existing homes or pre-sold.From the date of implementation of the notice, commercial housing projects with newly transferred land and transferred land that have not obtained a construction project planning license will be given priority to sell existing homes; commercial housing projects that have obtained a construction project planning license are encouraged to implement existing home sales; commercial housing projects with newly transferred land and transferred land that have not obtained a construction project planning license are subject to pre-sale, the pre-sale conditions will be standardized, and the supervision of pre-sale funds will be strengthened to ensure the safety of pre-sale funds.