A construction site of a residential complex in Chaoyang district, Beijing on August 1, 2025 Photo: VCG

 
Beijing on Wednesday announced a series of measures to ease restrictions on home-purchasing for both local and non‑local households, in a move to support the city's property market.

According to the notice, from Wednesday, the non‑Beijing permanent residents will now see reduced eligibility requirements for buying commercial housing. Those purchasing within the city's fifth ring road will need to have paid social security or individual income tax for two years, down from the previous three‑year requirement. For homes outside the city's fifth ring road, the requirement has been lowered from two years to one year.

The families with two or more children will be allowed to purchase an additional set of commercial housing within the fifth ring road. Specifically, multi-child families with Beijing local household registration (hukou) can purchase up to three sets of commercial housing within the fifth ring road, while non-Beijing-hukou multi-child families who have continuously paid social insurance or individual income tax in Beijing for two years can purchase up to two sets within the fifth ring road.

The notice, which is released at the official website of Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, vows to better meet residents' housing needs and diversified housing improvement needs.

The real estate policies introduced has given full play to the role of local governments in adjusting and optimizing real estate policies, said Yan Yuejin, deputy head of Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute, on Wednesday.

Also these policies further support reducing housing inventory, helping to safeguard the bottom line and better promote the activity of the real estate transaction market, Yan added. 

China's top housing authority emphasized the need to stabilize the real estate market, with key measures including city-specific policies to control new housing supply, reduce inventory, and optimize supply, according to a post published on the ministry's website on Tuesday.

The new measures will be combined with high-quality urban renewal and the renovation of urban villages to revitalize and utilize existing land resources, and efforts will also be made to promote the purchase of existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing, resettlement housing, dormitories, talent apartments, and other purposes, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong said at a national work conference held in Beijing from Monday to Tuesday.

The adjustment of social insurance payment requirements is a crucial aspect of the ongoing policy changes in the real estate market, Yan explained.

He further noted that regional market conditions show that easing purchase restrictions typically produces positive outcomes, as these policies directly and significantly influence the market, especially by boosting demand.

In August, Beijing announced the removal of its limits on the number of home purchases outside the city's fifth ring road. Starting August 9, there were no restriction on the number of homes purchased outside the city's fifth ring road by families with local household registration, and families without local household registration but with at least two years of social insurance or individual income tax payment records in Beijing, reported the Xinhua News Agency.