The photo taken in July 2014, shows a house in Beijing being separated into many small rooms for renting. (Photo/Beijing News)
Chinese authorities are reportedly considering a change to allow the use of partitions in rental properties.
According to a report from China National Radio, the move is aimed at ensuring young people and newly settled residents can afford a place to live, and ensure the safety of properties and their inhabitants, against a backdrop of ever increasing housing costs for buyers and renters.
Although partitioning has been banned for decades, the practice has nevertheless stayed popular in big cities.
Vice minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Lu Kehua, says that's due to a lack of suitable properties for renters, and also that house purchase and rental prices have exceeded the affordability of most young people and migrant workers.
A recent survey by the Global Cities Business Alliance, a London-based not-for-profit organisation, found that Beijing was, by far, the most expensive city in the world to rent an apartment.
"Affordable housing" is deemed to be somewhere between 30 to 40-percent of a person's monthly income. The rate in Beijing is well over 120 percent.
According to a government survey on renting supply in 16 big cities in China, nearly three quarters of renters prefer a small apartment less than 50 square meters, whereas most available houses are larger. As a result, many renters choose to share a house with other people.
Lu Kehua emphasised that any partitions needed to comply with current renting regulations and should not conflict with fire prevention and evacuation arrangements.
He added that the ministry is studying in detail the standards for partitions in rented housing, and the minimum living space needed by each dweller.
Shanghai started carrying out a "N+1" model last year, which allows each bedroom to hold one renter, and allow the living room to be used as another bedroom.
Commenting on the possible change, chief analyst at property agency Centaline, Zhang Dawei, said he was concerned the new rules would allow more dwellers in each apartment, would put a strain on limited public facilities, and arouse discontent among existing residents.
Zhang also stressed that any relaxation of the rules in the rental sector should be strictly supervised.
