November 1, Local governments in China are planning to lower their targets for social housing construction for next year after a bumpy 2011, a source close to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development told the 21st Century Business Herald.

A number of local governments from provinces including Sichuan, Henan, Hainan and Guangxi have handed in plans for their respective social housing programs for 2012 to the ministry, all of which show a reduction in unit numbers to various degrees.

The provincial government of Sichuan has set a target of building 314,000 social housing units for the coming year, down 16% from 375,000 units in 2011, according to ministry data.

“The new figure is a just a preliminary plan, which is subject to further adjustments after the central government has allocated specific tasks to each local government,” a person from Sichuan’s provincial housing bureau told the 21st Century Business Herald.

10 million Homes

China has set a goal of building 10 million social housing units by the end of this year and around 36 million by 2015 -- a target that has been questioned by experts given the difficulty in raising the massive funds needed for such projects.

As of August, construction of around 8.68 million housing units for rental or sale to low-income families has started, and officials say they are optimistic about starting work on all 10 million units before the year is out.

But the target for next year is expected to be lowered, the ministry source said.

Housing minister Jiang Weixin said recently that the housing ministry and the Ministry of Finance are considering scaling down next year’s social housing construction.

However, that won’t mean a cut in central government investment in social housing, Jiang said.

Jiang also said the housing ministry would conduct a series of evaluations on the quality and quantity of social housing units in the first half of 2012, which would be used to decide if the original goal of 36 million units by 2015 needs to be adjusted.