Rental rules may change

being unfairly terminated, and steep rent increases.

After moving seven times in the past eight years, Zhang Xinyu, a Beijing renter from Hunan province, said he is tired of dealing with agents and landlords.

“Most times, I haven’t wanted to move but was forced to by the agent or landlord,” the 31-year-old said. “Each time the one-year contact expired, they would raise the rent. They know it’s not easy to find another house and move all your belongings. Sometimes the rent increased by 10 percent, too high for me to afford.”

Yan Yuejin, research director at E-House China R&D Institute, said a new regulation would stabilize the housing rental market if it guarantees tenants’ rights when it comes to

Yuan’s central parity rate against US dollar

renewing contracts. “If tenants could get agreements that last at least three years, the market will be very stable,” he said.

The ministry has said it will encourage the growth of largescale home rental enterprises through preferential policies like financial support and tax breaks. Real estate developers also will be encouraged to enter the rental industry, Lu said.

The authority will enlarge coverage of the government’s low-rent housing projects to cover migrant workers and new graduates, Lu said, but the government also will look into offering subsidies to people who qualify so they can enter the rental market. Almost 90 percent of rentals are privately owned, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.