Study On The System Of Urban Housing Expropriation

Since ancient times, real estate and land are the most important property of citizens, enterprises and organizations. China has seen an unprecedented urbanization in the last two decades, including rapid growth in urban population and industrialization. At present, China remains at an important stage of development and reform which often involves land and housing expropriation. The government should protect legitimate rights of housing owners in government-led land expropriation. Responding to criticism from various stakeholders, the central government replaced "Urban housing expropriation regulations" with "State-owned land expropriation and reimbursement for housing demolition regulations"(hereinafter referred to as "Expropriation Statute") in2011. There are great improvements in the new statute despite many existing deficiencies. For example, provisions are not specific enough to implement the regulations. Protecting private property rights has been evolving in China. The constitution amendment of2004contains such provisions:citizens’rights on legitimate private properties are protected. The thesis focuses on the "Expropriation Statute," analyzes its deficiencies, and proposes ways to improve the new statute. In particular, the thesis focuses on defining public and private property rights, compensation for housing expropriation, forced relocation and land expropriation regulations.The thesis contains six components:introduction, four chapters on the new statute in the order of the key provisions, and conclusion.In the introduction, three cases on housing expropriation are presented to help identify existing problems. It seems the main issue lies in the regulations. Improving the regulations on land and housing expropriation is thus urgently needed.Chapter1:Expropriation Statute should be amended to appropriately define public and private property rights. Since a proper definition of public (state) rights is the basis on which land expropriation and housing demolition regulations are implemented, the procedure and method to define public (state) rights should be clearly defined and specified. The procedure should balance public and private interests, be in proportion to the magnitude of interests, follow a legitimate procedure, consider shared-decision making, and provide transparency. The procedure should also limit local governments from abusing power and allow citizens to prosecute local governments when conflicts arise.Chapter2:According to the provisions on property rights, compensation for housing expropriation should include the fair market value of the real estate and the land involved. The fair market value should reflect both the housing ownership rights and the land use rights. It is also important to distinguish the rights of the lessee from the rights of the owner, and distinguish the rights of the lessee when the property is owned by the government from those when the property is privately owned. The housing expropriation compensation agreement is a contract with the government, whose disputes should follow a different procedure than that for a contract between two non-government entities. The public access to housing expropriation records will likely improve efficiency, reduce conflicts, and help the court make fair decisions. The methods used to allocate cash rewards and allowances to specific individuals should be clearly stated. It should be clearly specified what type of information from housing expropriation records that will be released publicly, and who have access to the records, which in turn will prevent corruption.Chapter3:More strict procedural restrictions should be imposed on the application for forced relocation. Prior to the filing of the application, local government should notify the residents twice in writing, which should not be less than15days apart. In the case when residents have not moved, a public hearing is required prior the forced relocation. The new statute should specify how the court should conduct the review, including the procedure used and the consequences. It also should clarify that it is local governments that implement forced relocation. Chapter4:It is proposed that a law should be enacted to regulate land and housing expropriation. The law should cover the expropriation of both the state-owned land and the collective-owned land. Laws and regulations should be used to restrict the government behavior in land and housing expropriation, which will help protect private property rights. The law should specify how to allocate rights between different owners, and the circumstances where a forced relocation is warranted.The conclusion section briefly summarizes the whole thesis.