As housing has long been a major matter affecting people's livelihoods and basic living support, a lot of attention has been paid to the issues. 

Several members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were invited to discuss and give valuable suggestions on developing China's housing rental market to ensure sufficient affordable housing for urban residents.

Xiao Gang, a member of the CPPCC National Committee, advised policy makers to develop a more scientific approach to planning of the housing rental market, in a bid to solve the problems such as the inadequacy of construction standards, difficulties in coordination, and unbalanced structure.  

City planners should adjust housing plans to reflect changes of demographic structure and market demand in a city or metropolitan area, said Xiao. They should more extensively study the structure of rental housing production and provide house supplies accordingly. 

Xiao noted that rental housing should incorporate planning in various matters, including land use, urban renewal, public service facilities, city management, investment and financing.

The construction of leased staff apartments and low-rent public rental housing should take into account such factors as the blue-collar sense of belonging, the cost of accommodation, commuting distances, integration into the community and potential security risks, he added.

Xiao also urged policy makers to provide better public service facilities to the rental housing, including compulsory education schools, and build more schools in such residential areas.

The central government has stressed establishing a housing system that ensures supply through multiple sources and encourages both housing purchasing and renting, which should be backed up by strong financial support, said Yin Xingshan, a member of the CPPCC National Committee. But he noted that the financial support for house renting is far less than that for purchasing. 

Yin suggested policy makers accelerate the design of housing rental investment trust funds and provide long-term and stable financial support for housing rental enterprises that hold operational assets.

He recommended strengthening the supervision of housing rental funds through formulating national-level supervision regulations, opening supervision accounts, and establishing risk prevention and control funds, while also creating a monitoring platform to warn of risks such as housing speculation schemes and abnormal transactions.

Yin also proposed promoting innovation of housing rental credit products, developing rental loans for individuals and legal persons, and implementing preferential loan interest rates.

The housing rental market needs laws and regulations to normalize its transactions, according to members of CPPCC National Committee.

The rights and obligations of lessors and tenants, the leasehold relationship, the tax preferences, and related subsidies should all be regulated by law. It should be stipulated under the law that house tenants can enjoy equal public service facilities like education and medical care as house buyers, said Pi Jianlong, member of the CPPCC National Committee.

Policies and regulations should be improved for the examination, approval and supervision of buildings constructed for commercial use such as department stores or hotels and those for industrial use like factory buildings and office space, he added.

Pi proposed specific rules for building rental housing on collectively-owned land and formulation of appropriate laws for collectively-owned land. He also urged expanding collectively-owned land use rights and the power to handle properties to ensure clear land ownership and lease terms.