The ministry of construction's housing special maintenance fund management scheme, which is to be implemented on 1 february, provides that the maintenance funds to be deposited by citizens when buying housing in the future will no longer be calculated in proportion to the cost of housing, but will be deposited in proportion to the construction price per square metre. On 27 january, the relevant head of the municipal council disclosed that the initial estimate for beijing was a maximum of 2,000 yuan/m2。
At present, new housing units in the sub-districts of beijing and those in the process of being sold are still contributing to the public maintenance fund at 2 per cent of the total housing bill. The scheme requires the owner of a commercial dwelling to deposit funds for specialized maintenance of the dwelling in accordance with the building area of the property owned. The deposit of the amount of the initial residential special maintenance fund per square metre of the building area represents between 5 and 8 per cent of the cost per square metre of the local residential construction works. This means that the public maintenance fund will calculate the deposit ratio according to the construction price of the dwelling。
In the view of industry experts, it would be more realistic for the fund to be deposited in proportion to the cost of construction to be converted from housing to construction. Since the maintenance fund is earmarked for residential co-location, repairs and upgrades after the completion of the maintenance of common facilities and equipment, it is not related to other factors such as the location of the house, the land price, etc。
When calculating the level of deposit of the maintenance fund under the new approach, the construction costs and the deposit ratio are the two main factors determining the initial amount. “buildings per square metre of residential accommodation in beijing will not cost more than $2,000, but different types of buildings and subdistricts should be distinguished.” the relevant head of the municipal council explained that the cost of construction materials and construction of high-rise dwellings was higher than that of multi-storey dwellings, which generally cost between $1,700 and $2,000 per square metre and between $1,300 and $1,500 per square metre。
The officer-in-charge stressed that, as the scope of the construction price was only initially defined, the specific deposit rate in the range of “5 to 8 per cent” covered by the “methods” of interest to the purchasers, as well as the hotspots such as the criteria for depositing new owners who had entered later were still under study. The media will continue to focus on this。
Accounting: new system of “benefits” for buildings above $8,000/m2
Assuming the purchase of a 100 square metre high-rise commodity house, calculated as the “ceiling” of the construction price and deposit ratio of $2,000 per square metre and the deposit rate of 8 per cent, the public maintenance fund required for the first period would be 2000 x 8 per cent x 100 = $16,000. The equivalent of the deposit amount of $8,000 per square metre of dwellings under the “total housing contribution of 2 per cent”. At this point, the owner would deposit a building with a unit value of over $8,000, which would be lower than before, under the new scheme。
When the deposit rate is set at 5 per cent, the first deposit of the maintenance fund required by the owner is for 2000 x 5 per cent x 100 = $10,000. This is equivalent to the deposit of $5,000 per square metre of dwellings paid under the old “two per cent of the gross house”. At this point, the owner of the building, with a unit value of more than $5,000, would deposit it under the new scheme, which would be lower than before。
According to data published by the national development and reform commission, in the fourth quarter of 2007, the average value of the commercial houses in beijing was $14470 per square metre. If, as previously stipulated, the initial maintenance fund is deposited at: 100 x 14470 x 2% = $28940; even after the implementation of the new provision, the maximum deposit of the initial maintenance fund is: 100 x 2000 x 8% = $16,000, the owner may deposit $12940 less than previously. (lao woo-jun)
