Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
First apartment, first city, first major life decision.
You scrolled the listings, you chased the deals and you just prayed that those photos weren't from 2012.
You know, renting in China is not what it used to be, and young renters want different things today than they used to in the past.
Today, we'll find out what's actually changing in the market and how to turn a rental into a real home.
We're live from our studios here in Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm Steve.
Thanks very much for being with us today.
And for the show, I'm with Fei Fei and Xinyu.
First up...
Finding a place to call home sounds simple, right?
Not always.
For many young people, especially fresh graduates, renting a home is one of the first big steps into adult life.
It's exciting.
It's a new city, perhaps a new job, a new chapter, but it can also feel like a real-life treasure hunt.
Searching through endless listings, comparing prices, checking locations and trying to figure out whether that perfect apartment is actually perfect or just too good to be true.
At the same time, China's rental market is going through some major changes.
And the way people think about housing, it's evolving.
And renting is no longer just a temporary stop on the way to buying a home.
More and more people are looking for comfort, convenience, and a better quality of life.
So what does that mean then?
What does renting look like now and what will it look like in the future?
How's the market changing?
What are young people thinking?
We're going to talk about all of those things today.
Fei-Fei and Xingyu, good afternoon.
It is time to talk about the rental market.
And it is true that it's an exciting time when graduates come out of school.
I can still remember looking for my first apartment.
Yes.
And it feels like you're stepping out of childhood into becoming an adult somehow, right?
Yes.
And yeah, it's the graduation season again.
And the rental market has entered its typical peak season.
So, especially in cities like Beijing Shanghai, Shenzhen.
You can imagine the number of fresh graduates or talents that are coming into these cities.
And these top tier cities are seeing high demand and faster transactions and also a slight upward trend in rental prices.
Real estate agents these days are thinking, oh, yeah, yeah.
It's peak season, right?
Yeah.
And also for a lot of tenants.
If you are not a fresh graduate out of college, sometimes you would hear advice from people you know this is not the ideal time for you to start a new contract.
Right.
Simply because there are a lot of demands on the market, the price could go up.
And also, especially when it comes to good ones, the good ones can be snatched up very quickly.
Oh, that's really interesting.
So there's a bit of strategy there, right?
You don't want to time your housing contract.
Your rental contract with the same period as the graduates coming out of school.
You'll be in competition.
Yeah, on some level, right.
Especially when it comes to... They don't have a choice for graduates.
This is the period that you moved out of your dormitory, moved out of your college campus and entering the society.
So for those of us who are not sort of in that graduation pool is not the perfect time to restart a new content.
It's like peak travel season is not the perfect time to buy an airplane ticket or book a hotel, but you got to do what you got to do.
Yeah.
And recently there is a blue book on the development of China's long-term rental housing market, which is jointly researched by one of the country's housing platforms and also some of the news agencies.
And it highlighted some of the significant structural changes in today's the country's housing rental market.
Yeah, if you look at that report, it is jointly researched by a rental platform.
So perhaps take it with a little bit of salt if you will, but still a report worthy of looking at nonetheless.
Yeah, and worth noticing that, especially when for example, when I was first graduating out of college this kind of rental housing platform doesn't exist on the market.
Yeah, at all.
So the only ways that you can look for a place for an apartment, for example in Beijing, you go to some online forums.
Online forums?
Yeah, for example, for graduates.
There are also different when people still go to online forums, you know, on websites.
So you know graduates, they will have their own sort of circle and they post information about this kind of apartment listings.
And also some of us would go to offline agencies, housing agencies that of course you need to first of all find an area, which part of the city you would like to live or which part of the city your job is located.
So but now I think it's more flexible when you have this online apps and platforms.
Yeah, that's how I mean.
You can employ different strategies when you're looking for a place to live, right?
You can choose the neighborhood where you want to live and then skip all the online stuff.
And simply go to a real estate agency in the neighborhood and tell them your budget and what you're looking for.
And you can do it that way.
Or you can go online.
Online's a little bit trickier.
I mean, I remember when I was looking for apartments when I was living in Korea.
And I think this is true in Canada and America and England or wherever.
You know, sometimes you'll see what looks like a great deal, and then you contact them and they say oh, that one's gone.
Ah.
But I have this one.
It's sort of a fake listing.
Yeah, I mean, maybe it's true.
Sometimes maybe it's not.
But anyway, yeah.
So you can use that system or you can use a little bit of a hybrid system too yeah, but currently i think what the current situation when we're talking about the rental market here in china is that more people, more tenants, are renting long term.
I think one of the.
According to that blue book, roughly 80 of tenants now accept renting for five to six years or even longer, And nearly 40 are not currently considering buying a home.
So renting would be their primary choice when it comes to accommodation.
And they're looking at that.
You're not talking about five or six year contracts.
No, no.
You're talking about the mindset.
But nowadays, we have seen like 10 year contract as well.
It's not that common though, but it's a trend because, you know, in a traditional sense people would see that buying house is a necessity of you living or you build a family of your own in the city.
But nowadays people are seeing that, instead of having this financial burden of this decades-long mortgage, how about I rent a 10-year contract of this bigger house?
And then I don't need to worry about the housing anymore.
I suppose.
I mean that's a very long contract, but I guess the advantage would be that the rent is locked in.
Yes.
So you're not going to be looking at rental increases, price increases, during the period of your contract.
Yeah.
And I mean a mortgage.
When it comes to things that you have to pay for when you buy a house sure, you have to pay for the mortgage.
But then there's all kinds of different types of taxes, I assume, at least there are in Canada.
Plus housing upkeep and maintenance costs and all the things my dad used to complain about.
It's a big commitment, buying a house.
Yeah, it certainly is.
Also, this is interesting too from the report.
The renter population is getting older.
Last year, for the very first time, more than half of tenants, 50% of tenants, in institutionalized rental housing—that means rent not directly from a landlord but from a platform—
We're over the age of 30.
That's a new statistic, too.
I guess people and that's just a sign too, that people are waiting longer perhaps, to buy their first home.
Yeah, and also I think part of the reason is because, like I mentioned before, that more people are accepting renting for a longer period of time.
And another side of the story is that more and more renters place higher emphasis, when it comes to the quality, to the renovation inside the house, the interior design of the house or even the smart devices equipped inside the house.
And the report also notes that over 80 of renters are willing to pay a premium for high-quality renovations and smart home furnishings.
So, thinking about when I was first renting in Beijing, the price of course is, I would argue, on some level, the sole standard for a lot of criteria for a lot of people when they're considering different options.
Well, it would have to be price plus at least a little bit of location, I would think, because Beijing is such a huge city.
I mean, if you take the subway from the far western side of the city all the way to the far eastern side of the city, which you can on the same subway line, line one that's, how is that two hours or more?
One and a half.
I wouldn't say it's too loud.
It's pretty quick.
But also pretty far.
My point is if you found a great deal on the far western side of the city, you're probably not working on the far eastern side of the city.
You're probably going to look for a good deal over there as well.
But now I think more and more people are demanding this kind of value added services.
For example, there are platforms that are offering services, for example when it comes to maintenance, when it comes to cleaning.
And I think that can be a big factor when you start to rent a new apartment, especially as a 20-year-old.
Your toilet broke.
Where are you going to find somebody to help you with mending that toilet?
And now we have agencies that have this kind of services.
That is, lifting this sort of burdens and anxieties for these fresh new graduates about who are going to come to help me when I run into problems with my home appliances, with my equipment inside the house and also when it comes to cleaning.
How many of us would need some help to clean the apartment at least, let me say, once a week?
Once a year?
I mean, you can do the cleaning yourself, right?
Yeah, but when you are thinking about, for example, in Beijing you commute like an hour a day.
You wouldn't have the energy and time.
To think about, oh, how about mopping the floor tonight?
And so a lot of young tenants.
They want to have some accessible and affordable cleaning help, cleaning services.
98% interested in maintenance services, 92% in cleaning services.
I mean, that's almost everybody.
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
There's also a rise in the popularity of something called upgraded renting, and that's represented by long-term family rentals, and it's reflective of a growing trend among households to kind of get away from like you said, Xing Yu the financial burden of a mortgage.
Yes. maybe even economic uncertainty, and instead they're improving their living conditions.
Long-term renting is one of the strategies.
Renting out other properties that they might own to cover rent elsewhere, perhaps where they live.
That's another strategy.
Or maybe even just selling their home outright and renting on a monthly basis.
Yeah, I've looked into some of the examples.
I'll give you some of the examples here.
So some people have leased an apartment in Beijing, which is near the school district.
And that contract lasts for a full 10 years.
So that means in the following 10 years you don't need to worry about your kid going to the school, because it's right beside the school.
And also, you don't need to worry about...
I mean, buying a new home, which is most of the people here couldn't afford buying a home.
And you could also I mean within the same price range you can choose a bigger or more comfortable house.
And also some have sold their two-bedroom apartment in Beijing's Wangjing area, which is in the northeastern part of the city, and moved into a three-bedroom rental in the same neighborhood.
And that rent can cover some of the rent he has to pay.
So, with the demand or expectations, I guess I should say, rising from renters in terms of what they want, then there has to be some sort of response from the landlords, from the homeowners, in terms of their renovations and what they're doing to the interior of the houses.
Precisely.
And more and more landlords are now willing to renovate their properties before renting them out.
According to that Blue Book, it's more than 70 percent.
And also nearly 60 percent prefer to entrust their rental units to professional housing rental operators for management, instead of only by themselves.
Yeah, so that means that as the person renting, you're dealing with an agent.
If you have an issue, you're dealing with the agency as opposed to dealing with the landlord.
Yeah, that can save a lot of energy and time.
And headaches.
Yes, trying to communicate with the landlord, because I think anybody who rent an apartment before know how difficult sometimes it can be.
It's not all difficult.
Yeah, but when you are talking to an agency, it's more easier.
And that agency gets your demand very fast because, when it comes to communication, understanding each other's demands and needs are also
One of the bigger issue factor as well.
And I think, when it comes to landlords who are not living in their apartment long term, who are not in the housing market all the time, sometimes they are not aware of some of the issues or problems that the tenants are having.
But agents, they can get you very fast.
That's been my experience too, is it's?
It's really kind of the best way to go because you can.
You can speak free.
This is only my experience, but you can speak freely with an agent, right?
If you have some complaints about something or if you want something done in the apartment, you say come on, I really want this done.
They'll say, oh, I don't think the owner is going to do that.
Just try for me.
Okay, I'll try for you.
So there's just another comfort level I found of dealing with the agent.
But the downside of it is that you have to pay extra for the services you get from the agencies.
Yeah, that is one of the factors.
But I think more and more people are willing to pay for this kind of services simply because of all the troubles that they can be saved from here.
All right, let's get to the policies and the changing policies and how they will impact the market.
What types of... bigger picture things are happening here?
Well, I think here in China the government is really trying to make the rental market not as a backup plan for those who can't or cannot afford to buy a property.
But instead they are offering these kind of services or the rental housing as also another alternative options for a high quality way of life.
So that's why they're rolling out a lot of policies to turn old quote, unquote and tired housing into modern homes and make it easier for people to afford them.
So I think one of the big things is the massive urban facelift.
So they are inputting a lot of efforts and costs and resources into fixing up a lot of the I think even older apartments into urban regeneration between this year and 2030.
So we're talking about those houses or apartment buildings built in 1980s or 90s or even earlier than that.
They need major, major renovations.
When it comes to their plumbing, when it comes to even the outside of the walls, installing elevators for some of the buildings as well, that requires a lot of effort.
Even the roads leading into or around the buildings need some renovation, the facades outside the building, just a lot of stuff internally and externally.
115,000.
This is the plan for that plan.
They want to renovate 115,000 aging residential complexes and fix up 500,000 old homes.
It's a significant number.
And also I think we also talked on Roundtable before that they are also making this public funding pool called the Housing Provident Fund 공지진, as more of an accessible tool for people who are renting a place.
They're expanding coverage to include more flexible workers, simplifying the paperwork and also lowering the barriers for people who actually need this kind of money.
Yeah, we talked about that on Roundtable.
I mean that is talking about housing facelifts and things like that interior renovation that move from the government to allow people to use their housing fund for things like that just makes me think there's a whole lot of new kitchens and bathrooms out there these days.
Yeah.
Yes.
And besides that, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development is moving the goalposts from just having a roof I mean survival of living to living well.
So they have introduced the For Good construction framework.
Meaning good housing, good residential area, good communities and good urban areas.
And this is to push developers and rental institutions to focus on the total living experience instead of just how many rooms you have you're going to rent.
Sure.
And then the rental platforms are responding as well.
They're offering maybe not all of them, but at least some of them are offering what they call an all in one digital experience where you can find your apartment, sign for your apartment and then manage your home.
Manage your home would be things like.
I guess if you need something repaired in the middle of the night, it's a 24-7 service that's provided.
You can do all of that stuff online. through an application.
And then the other stuff you want, like cleaning or moving assistance or any types of repairs or cleaning or what have you.
Maybe even organization would be on that list.
We talked about that too, how that's growing in popularity these days.
All of that stuff can be done through an app.
So it's kind of like one-stop shopping, which does make things a whole lot more convenient for the customer, for the renter.
Yeah, and also to keep the market from getting too wild.
There are also new regulations and anchor prices being used to keep things stable.
For example, in 2025 they have the housing rental regulations implemented to provide a legal sort of base foundation for the renters, and not only for the industry, but also for the tenants and also owners.
And there is also a growing supply of affordable rental housing called 保租房, meaning they're providing this safety net for tenants out on the market.
And according to market analysis, these government-supported units act as a price anchor and also help keeping the overall market rents from spiking too high, even during peak seasons like currently, the graduation season.
So there are a lot of policies.
And also I think there are also subsidies given to young graduates fresh out of the campuses so that they can make this one or two month transition into the real world society.
Lots of help there.
That being said, there are always challenges when it comes to the national rental market.
What would some of those things be these days?
Yeah, one of them is that 92 according to the Blue Book, 92 of the homeowners with vacant properties are choose to rent them out.
But the aging housing stock has become a growing challenge meaning, like we've talked about, the houses are old and run down.
The statistics say that in 2024, nearly 40 of rental listings in China's 40 major cities were over 20 years old.
So that means you're going to have a hard time finding people to live in those places.
Actually, I've seen some of the social media posts where you know people who rent an old house and they would like make videos or make some of the tip posts for others to show that how we can renovate the house by myself from the tenant's Yes.
So that's kind of another fun point for these tenants.
But for these landlords and also housing platforms, they have to pay more to renovate the old houses.
Yeah, you know, thinking about these older apartments, I sort of can resonate with the landlords themselves.
If, for example, these 20 years old apartment buildings are not renovated by a larger project like a government-backed, to renovate the facade or the plumbing system inside the building will be very difficult and very expensive for one single person.
One unit.
Yeah, to one unit to make things better.
So then why would a landlord invest a lot of money into this kind of renovation project?
Yeah.
But now, with this kind of sort of facelift projects in place, I think more and more landlords are willing to renovate their properties because It makes sense.
It will make the house easier to rent it out instead of, you know, just sitting in your hands.
I think the Blue Book said over 70 percent of the landlords are willing to make that choice.
And nearly 40 percent of owners of older vacant homes are prepared to invest more than 100000 yuan into upgrades.
That's a serious investment.
Yes.
So that's why, if they're seeing my investments won't come into void, I'm willing to make that investment.
I like to see my tenants living in a very, very old and shabby 20-year-old apartment unit.
Mm-hmm.
So I think this is sort of the landlords making an effort.
The government is helping to build a platform, build a better system, so that the tenants themselves can also enjoy better services and living standards.
Well, speaking of support, there are a lot of policies for recent graduates.
These help graduates enter the workforce, I think more effectively and perhaps even easier.
It's kind of these are parallel lines for me because you're entering the workforce.
But while you're entering the workforce, you have to find a place to live, and you want that to be easy.
And if you can find a place to live easily enough, then perhaps that will ease the strain of entering into the workforce for the first time too.
Yeah.
And cities have like different kind of policies in place.
There are short term transitional housing, for example, in the city of Shenzhen.
They're offering up to 15 days of free stay through projects like you know, governmental backed projects.
And they are also in cities like Qingdao in Shandong provides up to six months of rent-free accommodation for six graduates.
Six months?
Yes, yes.
It's also one of their strategies for trying to attract talents.
So you can see that depending on the size of the cities, they will have different preferential policies.
I mean for cities like Shenzhen.
There wouldn't be a bigger concern when it comes compared to a city like Qingdao, which is lesser well-known.
So they're also offering, you know, medium and long-term rental guarantees, right?
For example, in the city of Chongqing they offer one month of free rent for housing, with an additional two months free if the graduate secures a job and pays social security.
So different cities are offering.
I think there are also cities just giving out subsidies to these young graduates so that they can think about their own choices in renting or leasing a house.
Some cities do rental subsidies too.
In Chengdu, the city provides up to 3,000 yuan per month.
That's about $450 or so, just under perhaps. for three years for specific talent categories.
So there are some stipulations that need to be met there.
So the person needs to meet requirements like having a diploma or a specific industry.
But still, if you do meet the requirements, then up to 3000 per month for three years is a pretty significant chunk of money.
Yeah, and also in Nanjing, in Jiangsu province, they are offering industry-specific subsidies ranging from 700 yuan to 2400 yuan a month for graduates, if they find a job in fields like AI, robotics and biomedicine.
So you can see what these cities are trying to do.
Tech talent.
Yes, they're trying to attract more talent.
The cities are almost in a bit of a competition with each other.
On some level, yes.
I didn't realize this during graduation season.
All right.
So what tips can we give to fresh graduates then, when going out and looking at renting a home?
Any advice there?
For those who are seeking like, good housing after graduation.
I would recommend, instead of going to social media, which is really, really popular, that many individual landlords and also agencies they're posting some of the listings on social media, but I would recommend, instead of these online platforms, maybe go to these reputable online rental platforms.
Some of the agencies licensed agencies.
Just because with social media posts, you never know whether it's accurate or not?
Yes, sometimes it can be false and you might meet bad people maybe.
Yes, and also maybe try those gradual focused rental programs in your campus.
Some campuses, like in Beijing, they have offered rental services into campus project, which means that there are already like 80000 housing projects listed online where you can choose some of the subsidized rental options there.
Yeah, a lot of cities like Beijing and Shanghai have like talented and not talented graduate facing graduate sort of cheaper rental options on the market.
So for a lot of young graduates, especially those moving to a new city.
Keep yourself notified of this kind of information before you step into the market without knowing anything about the renting.
Yeah, and I would say too, I'm just thinking back to my first apartment that I lived in by myself.
Because in university, I had roommates.
After university, I had roommates.
When I moved to Korea, in the beginning I had roommates.
And finally, when I was, I think I was 24 or 25, I finally got my own first apartment.
And it was terrible.
But I loved it.
I absolutely loved it.
The front door of the apartment didn't go all the way to the ground.
So I remember sometimes coming home from work and like a bug would be walking under the door and entering into the apartment at the same time.
I would
That's your roommate.
Yeah, I would say like, oh, you're just getting home from work too, huh?
But what I'm trying to say is, you know, it's almost like a rite of passage sometimes.
It's a stage in life.
You don't need to have the biggest and most beautiful apartment as your first apartment, you know, starting into your adulthood years, your work years.
Maybe temper your expectations a little bit and just try to improve it the next time you take a step up.
Yes, especially when it comes to creating your own space.
I mean, in Chinese, we have a saying, right?
The house may not be yours, but the life is yours.
Yes, one step after another, you are going to establish yourself in the city with that big or small apartment unit.
I remember now...
In the wintertime, the toilet water used to freeze.
In Canada?
No.
It doesn't have heating in the bathroom?
Well, the bathroom was a little bit weird.
The bathroom had like these almost floor to ceiling windows.
Yeah. that were covered, they were like frosted, do you know what I mean?
But you could slide them open.
So in the summertime I used to hang out in my bathroom because it was almost like a patio.
It was a very strange place, i don't know, and anyway, in the winter time the water used to freeze.
So i remember i would come home from work and have to boil water and then pour it in the toilet to melt the water.
But but it's still one of the you would remember dearly.
Who's gonna forget that?
Why did i live there?
I loved it anyway.
