Redefining publicly shared space seen as a boost to realty

Potential homebuyers check out a housing project at a real estate agency in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, in November. (Photo/China News Service)

Decisions by some Chinese cities to repeal publicly shared spaces is one of the latest efforts by local governments to boost the residential property sector by benefiting homebuyers, which suggests the real estate market is transforming to a new development pattern, said industry experts on Thursday.

Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, announced it would lift price caps on commercial housing, encourage home transactions after construction completion, and gradually scrap the convention of counting publicly shared spaces into buyers' housing space during transactions, according to a notice published on the city's housing and urban-rural development bureau on Tuesday.

"The move will benefit consumers for sure, as publicly shared spaces in some cities won't be counted into overall home spaces, and publicly shared spaces in residential property development won't be canceled," said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute.

"In this regard, Zhangjiakou is attempting to explore demand among homebuyers for better-quality homes, which is expected to enhance homebuyers' well-being and improve overall market sentiment," Yan said.

Some other cities also announced similar measures to expand homebuyers' actual living spaces. Earlier this month, Hengyang in Hunan province announced that commercial housing sold in the city will be simply calculated by floor area beginning Jan 1.

Likewise, Zhaoqing, Guangdong province and Xiangtan, Hunan proposed in September and May, respectively, that homes can be priced and sold without taking publicly shared spaces into account. Cities including Guangzhou, Guangdong; Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; Changsha, Hunan; and Xiamen, Fujian province have also introduced measures to optimize space calculations in homebuying.

"Excluding publicly shared spaces from the personal living space of an apartment will make home prices look more reasonable and transparent. Under such a market situation, property developers are expected to mark down selling prices. In short, such space calculations can better protect homebuyers' rights and interests, because you will get exactly what you pay for," Yan said.

Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Centaline Property Agency, said there is some misunderstanding regarding publicly shared spaces, which in fact is closely related to the quality of life issues.

"Many developers may design the apartment with much smaller publicly shared spaces than what is delivered, and the lack of transparency in measuring shared areas is one of the biggest concerns for homebuyers," said Zhang.

Song Hongwei, research director of Shanghai-based property consultancy Tospur, said the space calculations of a specific apartment may lead developers to building more high-quality homes.

"The cancellation of publicly shared areas is in line with the interests of homebuyers, and as buying demand is unleashed, competition among developers will woo consumers with more premium products," Song was quoted as saying by National Business Daily.

Publicly shared space refers to the gross floor area of the whole building's shared area, which includes the space of elevator shafts, pipe shafts, stairwells, garbage chutes, equipment rooms and corridors, among others. Publicly shared spaces are essential to the quality of a residential community, Yan said.