Box 1 Renovation of Dilapidated Rural Homes

Renovation of dilapidated rural homes is an important policy measure in realizing the Two Assurances and Three Guarantees. Since 2013, a total of 25.68 million poor from 7.9 million households have had their dilapidated mud-and-straw cottages renovated. Housing improvement assistance was offered to 10.75 million rural households with economic difficulties, including households entitled to subsistence allowances, severely impoverished residents cared for at their homes with government support, and impoverished families of individuals with disabilities. Housing renovation for the rural poor is a part of the program of improving rural infrastructure, along with road construction, afforestation, supply of safe drinking water, garbage disposal, and sewage treatment. Through all these efforts, the rural living environment in China has notably improved. During housing renovation programs in poor rural areas, ethnic and local features have been retained to the maximum extent; cultural villages, as a means of poverty alleviation, have been developed to increase local tourism income.

Subsidies were offered to the rural impoverished for the renovation of their dilapidated homes. In 2017, the average per household subsidy from the state budget was raised from RMB8,500 to RMB14,000. Domestic authorities integrated all government subsidy funds before they were classified and graded in accordance with the extent of poverty, the level of risk for each dwelling, and the approach to renovation. This measure has ensured that poor households can afford safe housing. The widowed, orphaned and childless in extreme poverty are provided with rural public rental housing or rural nursing homes, vacant public housing that has been renovated, or vacant farmhouses for long-term rental, to guarantee their access to safe housing.