The economy may be expanding, but for some Shanghai residents
living space keeps getting smaller and smaller.
A combination of low wages and high rent is forcing some
residents to start "collective renting," a term frequently used in
local media at the moment to describe this growing problem.
"Collective renting refers to a flat being rented at the same
time to more than three persons and sometimes up to 10," explained
Zheng Hui, a legislative adviser for the Shanghai municipal
government.
Cai Zhixing, the head manager of the Lucheng community in Pudong
New District, told China Daily yesterday that the most typical
example of collective renting in his community is a three-bedroom
flat divided into 10 small separate spaces, and shared by 10
individuals.
"Even one of the two toilet rooms can be turned into a rental
space," said Cai.
Usually an owner of a three-bedroom flat divides it into 7
different rooms and rents it to 10 strangers, said Cai.
"The sitting room is usually transformed into a living space and
all of the tenants have to share the same toilet and kitchen," he
said.
"As a fresh college graduate, my salary is not high enough to
rent one room by myself, so I hope to live with others to share the
cost," said Li Wen, 23, who shares 120 square-meter apartment with
12 people in the community.
"Though it's rather inconvenient for me to share the toilet and
the kitchen, I have to put up with it since now I don't have the
money to buy my own house," she added.
According to Cai, each divided space can be rented for 500 yuan
(US$62) to 1,000 yuan (US$125) per month, depending on the
size.
"The more rooms a flat can be divided into, the more rent
landlords can earn, "said Cai.
"Out of the total 1,800 flats in Lucheng, 700 are
owner-occupied, 200 are rented and some 800 are empty," said
Cai.
With new measures adopted by the government to curb speculation
and cool down the property market, Cai said "more house owners tend
to lease out their property to make bigger profits, rather than
sell at this precarious moment."
"Tenants can live in Shanghai at a cheaper price and house
owners can earn more rental fees than usual this explains why
collective renting is becoming more and more popular in Shanghai at
present," Zheng said.
While landlords and tenants can benefit, the rest of the
community is less keen on the collective renting trend.
"It has caused various kinds of social problems for the
community," said Cai.
Permanent residents have expressed concern that they are more
likely to be robbed, Cai said.
Waste management and elevator safety are issues of tension,
along with concerns that too many electrical devices being used at
the same time will be a fire risk.
To regulate this renting practice, some law firms have drafted a
proposal to the government in the hope of including collective
renting in the government's future legislative consideration, Zheng
said.
The final solution may involve permanent dwellers having to give
their agreement before someone rents in their neighborhood, he
added.
(China Daily August 2, 2006)