(Article notes continued)

According to 2007 Low Cost Housing Management Regulations (经济适用住房管理办法) passed and effective on? November 19th 2007, applicants for lost-cost housing must fulfill the following criteria:

?1. Must registered resident of the location where the low-cost house he/she applied for is located

?2. They must be considered part of the “low income group”, the definition of which is as set by provincial and district governments.

?3. They must not own any houses, or the house they currently resided in meets the criteria of facing “housing difficulties” (住房困难)

Another kind of low-cost housing established by law in 2006, called “bi-limited housing" (两限房), refers to units for sale that is limited in both its size and price. Currently, units must be smaller than 90 m2 and cheaper than property in their immediate vicinity to qualify.

If such housing is to be developed by real estate companies, the profit margin shall not exceed 3%; if the local governments are behind the housing project, the sales value can only be meant to recover cost-- no profit margin allowed.