Vichen.
Hire and purchase at the same time and speed up. A few days ago, the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration jointly issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for the Development of the Housing Rental Market", which put forward 17 specific measures to support the housing rental market from the aspects of strengthening the innovation of housing rental credit products and service models, broadening diversified investment and financing channels in the housing rental market, and strengthening and improving the financial management of housing rental.
The relationship between real estate supply and demand has changed significantly, and housing leasing is no longer a "supporting role" for real estate. At present, China's housing development has turned from a total shortage to a structural shortage of supply: in terms of quantity, the average number of houses per urban household has exceeded one, and the basic housing needs of residents have been metHowever, from a structural point of view, there are still problems such as uneven distribution of housing, such as insufficient supply of affordable housing, excessively high housing prices in large cities, and housing difficulties for new citizens and young people. The "Opinions" emphasize that "financial support for the development of the housing rental market should highlight the key points and aim at the shortcomings, mainly in large cities, focusing on solving the housing problems of new citizens, young people and other groups, supporting all kinds of entities to build, renovate and operate long-term rental housing, revitalize the stock of housing, and effectively increase the affordable and commercial rental housing" is not only conducive to expanding the effective supply of rental housing, but also to accelerate the simultaneous development of rental and purchase, promote the construction of a new model of real estate development, and promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market.
However, due to the long cycle and low profits of the housing leasing industry, and the low willingness of banks to lend, housing leasing enterprises are faced with financing problems of high financing costs and narrow financing channels. On the one hand, the "Opinions" clarify the division of labor among financial institutions, that is, commercial financial institutions meet the reasonable financing needs of various housing leasing entities, and policy-based development financial institutions provide financing for the construction and operation of affordable rental housingOn the other hand, we will innovate the varieties of housing rental credit and broaden the diversified investment and financing channels in the housing rental market, including supporting the issuance of housing lease guarantee bonds and steadily developing real estate investment trusts**, so as to provide financing convenience for housing rental enterprises. In particular, it is worth mentioning that the issuance of real estate investment trusts** (REITs) relying on rental housing is not only another way for commercial banks to recover their investment in addition to rental income, but also an investment exit channel, which is conducive to alleviating the investment concerns of financial institutions.
At present, the domestic housing rental market can be roughly divided into affordable rental housing and market-oriented rental housing, the latter usually including long-term rental apartments operated by enterprises and individual individual rental parts. According to the "2023 Blue Book on the Development of China's Urban Long-term Rental Market - "New Rental" of Urban Owners' Housing" jointly released by Xinhuanet and other units, China's renters have exceeded 2600 million, young people in first- and second-tier cities can accept rental for nearly 10 years, and the demand for quality rental housing continues to grow;From the perspective of the supply side, affected by factors such as the return of second-hand housing and the entry of rental housing into the market, the threshold for housing rental is also rising, and more than seventy percent of owners are willing to entrust their houses to long-term rental agencies, and the rental market is moving towards "standardization and institutionalization" is the consensus of most urban owners.
Improving the supply capacity and operation level of long-term rental housing is also the focus of the Opinions. There are three main business models for long-term rental apartments: the asset-light custody model, which only provides entrusted management services and does not involve property leasing and investment;The "second landlord" model is a medium-asset charter model in which the house is rented from the landlord first, and then subleased as a whole or dispersed after renovation, and the rent difference is earned from itIt is a heavy asset holding operation model that holds real estate through development, purchase and other means, and puts it into operation after renovation. Based on the problems exposed by some long-term rental institutions before, the "second landlord" model is not optimistic, and the industry is transforming to a lighter or heavier direction.
The "Opinions" make it clear that "focus on supporting the development of professional and large-scale housing rental enterprises of self-owned properties", "focus on supporting self-owned property-based housing rental enterprises that operate as independent legal persons, have clear business boundaries, and have professional investment and management capabilities in real estate, and promote their large-scale and intensive operation", "centralized and asset-heavy" self-owned property institutions are focused on, which can effectively prevent and control risks, ensure business sustainability, and to some extent, can also drive the stock of housing to destock. It remains to be seen what happens to small and medium-sized long-term rental agencies.