The Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development recently issued a notice to solicit public opinions on the "Regulations on the Management of Housing Provident Fund (Revised Draft for Comments)". This revision focuses on the diversified housing consumption needs of depositors, clearly supporting housing consumption such as renting, decorating, and paying for property. Flexible employment personnel will be included in the coverage of the system, and digital construction and risk management will be strengthened.
The head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development stated that the main idea of this regulation revision is to better meet the diversified housing consumption needs of depositors at different stages through the housing provident fund system. One is to expand from "buying a house" and "renting a house" to "repairing a house" and "maintaining a house", making the use of funds more diverse; The second is to include the vast number of flexible employment personnel in the coverage of the system, making the beneficiary groups more extensive; Thirdly, we will promote mutual recognition and lending, strengthen digital construction, and make the use of funds more convenient; The fourth is to strengthen risk management, prevent fraudulent withdrawals and loans, and make fund operations safer.
Expanding the scope of withdrawal and use of housing provident fund is the focus of this revision. The person in charge stated that Article 24 of the draft for soliciting opinions will expand the types of housing provident fund withdrawals from 6 to 9. The three newly added items are: first, the decoration of self occupied housing does not exceed a certain amount; second, the payment of property management fees for self occupied housing; third, other housing consumption situations approved by the State Council, which are extremely important. The current regulations adopt a listing method for withdrawal and use, with limited scope of use. The addition of this clause will bring greater flexibility and expansion space to meet the diversified housing consumption needs of depositors at different stages.
The housing provident fund system is an important component of China's urban housing system. Since the promulgation and implementation of the "Regulations on the Management of Housing Provident Fund" by the State Council in 1999, the operation of the housing provident fund system has embarked on a path of legalization and standardization. With the changes in the stage of housing development, the focus of the use of housing provident fund funds has gone through the process of supporting housing construction, supporting individual residents to purchase houses, and meeting other housing consumption needs, playing an important role in improving the living standards of urban residents.
At present, there have been significant changes in the supply and demand relationship in the real estate market, which has put forward new requirements for the operation of the housing provident fund system. It is necessary to revise and improve the regulations and respond to the concerns of the people in a timely manner. The person in charge said that from the perspective of the housing demand of depositors, China's urban development is shifting from a stage of large-scale incremental expansion to a stage of improving the quality and efficiency of existing stocks. The overall housing demand of the people has shifted from "whether there is" to "whether it is good or not", and housing consumption expenditure has expanded from "buying" and "renting" to "repairing" and "maintaining". The demand of depositors for housing decoration, renovation, maintenance and other aspects has increased significantly, and it is urgent to expand the scope of fund use stipulated in the regulations.
Wu Jing, Director of the Real Estate Research Center at Tsinghua University, stated that from a sustainability perspective, this adjustment strikes a balance between "doing our best" and "acting within our capabilities". There are differences in the actual scale of housing provident fund that can be used in different cities. The adjustment of the purpose of housing provident fund extraction needs to be tailored to local conditions, without a one size fits all approach, and cannot be too broad or pushed too quickly.
Another breakthrough in this revision is the expansion of deposit coverage. According to the draft for soliciting opinions, individual industrial and commercial households, part-time employees, and other flexible employment personnel may voluntarily participate in the housing provident fund system, and the specific measures shall be formulated by the people's governments of the cities divided into districts.
The head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development stated that from the current employment structure, there have been significant changes in China's population and employment structure. The platform economy and new forms of employment are developing rapidly, and the scale of new employment groups in flexible employment is growing rapidly. It is necessary to improve the regulation deposit mechanism, support individual industrial and commercial households, part-time employees, and other flexible employment personnel to voluntarily deposit and use housing provident fund, and help them solve housing problems.
It is worth noting that in terms of fund management mechanism, the draft for soliciting opinions further tightens the institutional fence. It not only improves the responsibilities of the Housing Provident Fund Management Committee and strengthens the supervision of the Housing Provident Fund management institutions, but also implements the responsibilities of the Housing Provident Fund Management Center, clarifying its legal responsibility for not supervising units to fulfill relevant obligations on time in accordance with regulations.
In response to the expectations of depositors for convenient and efficient services, the draft for soliciting opinions has been optimized in multiple stages, shortening the time limit for the Housing Provident Fund Management Center to approve loans from 15 days from the date of application acceptance to 10 days; Strengthen the digital capacity building of housing provident fund and enhance the efficiency of management services; Establish a sound mechanism for cross regional coordination of housing provident fund, promote mutual recognition and loan of housing provident fund, and make it more convenient and efficient for depositors to use it in different regions.
Wu Jing said that in recent years, reforms such as "one-stop service" and "maximum one visit" have continuously improved the convenience of public housing provident fund services, and depositors have raised higher expectations for service experience, processing speed, and material simplification. At the same time, with the development of the economy and society, the cross regional flow of factors such as depositors and funds is becoming increasingly frequent, and the demand for cross regional public services is becoming more urgent. It is necessary to add relevant content to the regulations to promote more convenient and efficient housing provident fund services.