Shanghai announced a plan yesterday to lift the city's overall property management quality by 2009 including more immediate repair services and better security and daily services.

The plan also calls to improve the professional ability of property management staff so that they can better serve residents.

"We have to improve the city's property management service because it is related to everyone's daily life," city vice mayor Yang Xiong said yesterday at a government meeting.

The plan consists of a slew of general commitments such as the set-up of 24-hour building maintenance and the update of security systems in residential complexes.

It also vowed that the governments at both municipal and district levels will raise funds to support property management firms to improve their services in general.

The plan also includes a statement to prohibit "group renting" - the owner divides a normal-sized apartment into dozens of units and rents them to multiple tenants.

Because of the city's soaring real estate prices, group renting is becoming more popular in the city, particularly among migrant workers.

The government considers it a potential security problem.

The practice raises safety, fire control and public health concerns.

The government has promised that more residents will have access to low rent houses.

(Shanghai Daily May 16, 2007)