Project reduces rents for new grads

Beijing is running a pilot subsidized housing project offering 1,000 rent-reduced rooms to new graduates in order to ease their financial burden in their first year after graduation.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued a policy last week saying that university students who will graduate this summer can apply for such rooms, which have rates far less than those in the area surrounding them.

Four districts are participating in the pilot－Haidian, Chaoyang, Fangshan and Changping－all areas where there are usually more students and jobs.

The pilot program could benefit as many as several thousand new graduates as they begin their search for jobs.

Some 650 apartments are being used in the project, and will be renovated and equipped with home appliances.

"Next month, the authority will issue the announcement for registration details and the students who are interested can apply," Guan Hui, deputy head of the policy planning department of the commission, told Beijing Radio and Television Station on Sunday.

Students need to register and the authority will arrange apartments for those eligible.

"The new policy is an attempt to offer affordable rental housing to help the government gain experience in carrying out other preferential measures for major groups of people who may need help in the following years," she said.

Beijing has previously issued a plan on accelerating the development of affordable rental housing. The plan is aimed at helping key groups of people, such as those working in urban operations and new graduates.

According to the commission, the rent for each room in the graduate pilot project ranges from 2,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan ($313 to $470), which is lower than that of comparable rooms in the neighborhood.

The pilot project also has features aimed at young graduates, such as residential lobbies in Chaoyang district that can be used as spacious places to communicate.

In Fangshan, the new graduates will be offered package collection and housekeeping services.

Wang Zhen, a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said that the policy will largely ease his economic burden.

"During this job-hunting season, this policy will help relieve my mental and financial stress. And I'm more determined to stay in Beijing to put what I have learned into practice," he said. "The tailored services are also a great part of the pilot that can't be seen in other rental projects."

Yao Yuxin contributed to this story.