Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the attention to rural homestead reform has been increasing day by day, and remarkable results have been achieved. Homestead reform is not only the top priority of rural and land reform, but also the cornerstone of rural residents' lives and the guarantee of social stability. In this context, it has become particularly crucial to provide comprehensive and effective legal services and legal guarantees for homestead reform. As an important part of the practice think tank, professional lawyers need to give full play to their professional advantages and contribute wisdom and strength to the promotion of homestead reform when dealing with many cutting-edge legal issues. The purpose of this paper is to go deep into the main problems encountered in the legal level of rural homesteads, and on this basis, put forward specific suggestions for legal and institutional reform, in order to provide useful reference and enlightenment for the improvement and development of the homestead system.
First, the process of homestead reform is sorted out.
The homestead system is not only an important part of rural reform, but also an important institutional support for rural revitalization. From the strict management of farmers' homestead ownership in the early days of New China to the reform pilot of exploring a new way of "separation of powers" in rural areas, the reform process of homestead land is a process of gradual deepening and continuous improvement. The reform process of homestead can be divided into the following stages.
1949-1978: This phase was the gradual establishment of collective ownership. The 1954 Constitution provided for the ownership of peasant homesteads, while the 1962 Draft Amendment to the Regulations on the Work of Rural People's Communes provided that homestead land belonged to the production team and prohibited renting and buying.
1978 to 2007: This phase was the period of strict management of the homestead. **In 1982, the Regulations on the Administration of Land for Building in Villages and Towns were promulgated, which stipulated the quota requirements and use rights of homestead land. In 1999, the General Office of the People's Republic of China issued the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Land Transfer and Strictly Prohibiting Land Speculation, prohibiting urban residents from purchasing homesteads in rural areas for the first time.
From 2007 to 2018, this stage is the stage of homestead reform empowerment and expansion. The Property Law promulgated in 2007 clarified that the right to use homestead land is a usufructuary right. In 2018, the first document proposed to explore the reform direction of the "separation of three rights" of homestead ownership, qualification rights, and use rights.
2019 to present: This stage is the standardized management stage of homesteads. At this stage, the pilot reform of the homestead system was carried out nationwide, and the specific ways to realize the "three rights separation" of homestead ownership, farmers' qualification rights, and farmhouse use rights were explored. At the same time, it also proposes ways to further improve the distribution, mortgage, use, income, approval and supervision of the "three rights separation" of homesteads.
In recent years, China has attached great importance to the reform of the rural land system, aiming to better protect the rights and interests of peasants in homestead land and promote the prosperity of the rural economy and social stability. At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, three pilot projects for the reform of the rural land system, including the pilot reform of the homestead system, were launched, marking that the reform of China's rural land system has entered a new stage.
Through the implementation of the reform of the homestead system, we have solved the problems left over from history for a long time and provided a more solid guarantee for the land rights and interests of farmers. At the same time, in order to meet the diversified housing needs of farmers, we continue to innovate housing security methods and strive to improve the quality of life of farmers. In addition, the implementation of mechanisms such as mortgage loans, paid withdrawals, and transfer of rural houses has also brought tangible property benefits to farmers and further stimulated the vitality of the rural economy.
Second, the practical dilemma in the context of homestead reform.
The purpose and direction of the reform of the homestead system are clear and clear, that is, to protect the rights of rural households to obtain, use and benefit from the homestead land in accordance with the law, and gradually implement the system of paid use and circulation of the homestead use right, so as to give play to the basic role of the market mechanism in the allocation of resources. However, since the policy of "separation of three rights" for homesteads was proposed, there has been no consensus on the nature and boundaries of homestead ownership, farmers' qualification rights, and farmhouse use rights, which undoubtedly increases the complexity and challenge of the reform. Considering the pluralism and complexity of Chinese society, the ambiguity of the nature of these rights has brought many practical difficulties to the reform of the homestead system. Therefore, in order to smoothly promote the reform of the homestead system, we need to conduct in-depth research and clearly define the nature of these rights to ensure that the reform is carried out smoothly and achieves the desired goals. The reform of the homestead system faces multiple challenges, among which the problems of unclear ownership and property rights disputes are particularly prominent. Due to the fact that the rights system of "separation of powers" has not yet been clarified, a large number of irregularities have emerged in the registration process. This is manifested in the following ways: First, there is a lack of legal basis for the types of rights created, such as the use of rights types that are not clearly defined in the current law, such as "the right to use houses" and "the right to operate homesteads", which may lead to confusion about the nature of rights. Second, there is a lack of unified understanding of the nature of rights in the "separation of powers" in various localities, which makes it difficult to unify the operation in practice. This kind of ambiguity and inconsistency.
1. The non-standard nature of rights has seriously hindered the inclusion of the "three rights separation" of homestead land in the unified real estate registration system. Third, there is also a lack of clear provisions on whether the qualification rights of homestead farmers are included in the scope of registration and the subject of issuing certificates, resulting in different approaches in various pilot areas. Fourth, the inconsistency of the circulation period has brought credit risk to the circulation of homestead use rights, and the circulation period of various regions is quite different, and there is a lack of unified standards. Fifth, the existing registration technology system cannot meet the needs of "separation of powers" registration, the register lacks the corresponding rights information settings, and the operation measures also lack specific registration requirements.
In addition, the high idle rate of rural homesteads cannot be ignored. In recent years, a number of empirical studies have shown that the idle rate of homesteads across the country is relatively high, resulting in a waste of resources. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Rural Agriculture, the idle rate of rural homesteads in the country is as high as more than 10%. In fact, due to the decrease in rural residents and the increase in idle land, the actual vacancy rate of homesteads may be much higher than this statistic. At the same time, the irrational planning of rural construction is also one of the important reasons for the high idle rate of homesteads. Problems such as the lack of unified planning and mixed functions make the layout of rural construction land (mainly homesteads) unscientific and unbalanced resource allocation, which affects the circulation of homesteads and the later development and utilization. This not only affects the quality of life of rural households, but also has a profound impact on the circulation of homesteads, the investment tendency of entrepreneurs and the development of tourism, which in turn has a huge impact on the income level of rural households.
Finally, the withdrawal and transfer of homestead use rights are also important factors restricting the reform of the homestead system. Although the law stipulates that rural villagers have "one house per household", due to changes in the population structure such as only children and lonely elderly people, one person may inherit "multiple houses", resulting in the phenomenon of "multiple houses per household" that conflicts with the law. However, the consequences of "multiple houses" caused by legal inheritance are contrary to the provisions of the law, and it is difficult for "extra houses" to be transferred smoothly and legally. According to Article 87 of the Housing Registration Measures, an assignee who is not a member of the rural collective economic organization where the house is located cannot register the transfer of ownership and thus cannot enjoy the right to use the homestead. This limits the scope of the transfer of homestead use rights. Some areas have also set strict conditions for the issuance of certificates for the circulation of homestead use rights, which further restricts the circulation of homestead use rights. To sum up, the reform of the homestead system is faced with multiple problems such as unclear ownership, property rights disputes, high idle rate, and withdrawal and transfer of use rights. In order to solve these problems, we need to further clarify and standardize the rights system of "separation of powers", improve the registration system, optimize rural construction planning, and relax the restrictions on the circulation of homestead use rights. These measures will help promote the smooth progress of the reform of the homestead system, realize the rational allocation and effective utilization of homestead resources, and promote the sustained and healthy development of the rural economy.
3. The optimization path of homestead reform.
In order to optimize the implementation of the policy of "separation of three rights" of homesteads, it is necessary to implement comprehensive policies from various aspects to ensure that legal reform is combined with practical operation to truly solve the problems in the development of rural homesteads. First of all, it is the key to establish and improve the legal system of "separation of three powers" of homesteads. ** The process of land rights confirmation should be accelerated, and the rights and interests of farmers' homesteads should be fully protected. By strengthening the work of confirming land rights, we should clarify the ownership, qualification and use rights of homestead land, provide legal protection for farmers, and reduce property rights disputes. At the same time, the "separation of three rights" of homestead land will be incorporated into relevant laws and regulations, such as the Land Contracting and Management Law and the Land Management Law, to ensure the legitimacy and standardization of the policy. Secondly, we should learn from the circulation model of construction land use rights to promote the orderly circulation of homestead use rights. **The Property Law should be amended to add provisions on the "separation of three rights" of homesteads, and clarify the circulation of rights and interests, operating procedures and supervision methods. At the same time, it is necessary to establish and standardize the homestead circulation market, encourage willing farmers to transfer the right to use homestead land to those in need, and promote the rational allocation and efficient use of land resources. In addition, it is essential to strengthen regulatory and legal education. ** The legal supervision of homestead management should be improved, and illegal acts should be strictly investigated and punished to protect the legitimate rights and interests of farmers. At the same time, we should strengthen the popularization of legal knowledge and enhance farmers' awareness of self-protection, so that they can better protect their homestead rights and interests. Finally, the optimization of the homestead system needs to comprehensively consider the interests of all parties to ensure that the reform measures can be implemented soundly. **The wishes and rights of farmers should be respected, their opinions and suggestions should be listened to, and the reform measures should be in line with the actual situation and the needs of farmers. At the same time, coordinate the interests of all parties, form a joint force, and jointly promote the healthy development of the homestead system.
To sum up, the implementation of the policy of optimizing the "separation of three rights" of homestead land needs to be comprehensively implemented from the aspects of legal system, circulation mode, supervision and legal education. The reform of the rural homestead law should not only stop at the formulation of new legal provisions, but more importantly, work hard at the implementation level to ensure that the relevant laws and regulations can be implemented soundly, truly solve the problems encountered in the development of rural homesteads, and release their potential social and economic value. Only in this way can we ensure the healthy development of the homestead system and provide strong support for the stability of rural society and economic development. The legal reform of rural homestead is a systematic project, which needs to be comprehensively implemented and the interests of all parties coordinated on the basis of respecting the wishes and rights and interests of farmers, so as to realize the homestead management regulations to keep pace with the times and lay a solid foundation for the sustainable development of rural areas.