Crackdown on illegal villas continues

The central government has taken tough action in several provinces to investigate illegally constructed villas and suspending approval for new villa projects.

Housing and urban-rural development departments in Fujian, Heilongjiang and Guizhou provinces recently released notices which asked local housing sectors to review all villa projects within the region.

Projects already being constructed, under construction, and waiting for construction permits will all be reviewed. Those projects will be the major targets.

The permit approval and release processes in these provinces have been all suspended.

In late March the State Forestry and Grassland Administration released a notice to all provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, asking local forestry departments to conduct investigations on illegally constructed villas in natural protected areas.

Villas without construction permits or structures that changed their purpose without approval are under investigation.

Local forestry departments were also required to find problems and possible loopholes in the construction approval procedure and report typical cases in illegal villa construction to the administration after investigation.

Last year, several provinces were reported to have illegally constructed villas built in natural protected areas and posed threats to the local environment. Some of those villas were removed, while other projects still under construction were suspended.

The Ministry of Natural Resources, formerly the Ministry of Land and Resources, has stopped approving land for villas in 2003. In 2016, the approval of land for low-intensity townhouses was also tightened.