President Ma Ying-jeou on the afternoon of October 4 met with scholars from overseas taking part in the International Conference on Social Housing in Taiwan. The president reiterated the government's resolve to address stubbornly high housing prices and other housing issues. He also stressed that the government has the goal of realizing "residential justice" in order to achieve fairness within society.
The president remarked that the first Monday of October was World Habitat Day, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly. The idea of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. President Ma said the holding of this international conference at this juncture is especially meaningful, as Taiwan faces a lack of social housing.
President Ma explained that over the past three-plus years, the government has adopted a number of concrete measures to address skyrocketing housing prices and other housing issues. For instance, the government has instituted a luxury tax to combat short-term speculation in the real estate market. Secondly, the government is promoting the construction of reasonably priced for-sale and rental housing projects. Thirdly, the ROC's Central Bank has strengthened risk controls on mortgage lending. Fourth, in order to prevent property developers from hoarding land and forcing prices higher, the government has abolished an administrative order that temporarily suspended the tax on vacant land. Fifth, restrictions have been implemented on the assessment of the preferential 1% tax rate on off-street parking lots, with tax on these plots of land instead now being assessed at a rate of between 1% and 5.5%. Sixth, government agencies are carrying out audits of luxury estates that have been deceptively registered as farmhouses, and high-priced housing that is not owner-occupied. Meanwhile, measures have been taken to crack down on persons who evade taxes on the purchase and resale of pre-sale homes, the president said.
Commenting on the price of real estate, which is of great concern to the public, President Ma remarked that Taiwan has a home ownership rate of over 80%. However, high housing prices in urban areas puts an enormous strain on young people. While the government provides preferential mortgage rates and rental subsidies to ease this pressure, these moves haven't solved the fundamental problem, the president said. Consequently, the government is providing land to build social housing, which has attracted quite a bit of attention. The president noted that the social housing being built by the government will be made available on a rental-only basis, and at one point persons living in the vicinity of these projects opposed this, fearing that it would impact housing prices. However, the president said this has not impacted the government's focus on expanding the scale of its social housing policies. President Ma commented that the government will learn from experiences in other countries and judge the degree of acceptance among the public before expanding this project. At present, he said, the government will increase the number of social housing units to 5% of the total housing units in Taiwan. At the second stage, the number will increase to 10%. However, regulations state that the owners cannot sell their homes for 10 years. This restriction is to avoid speculation, he said.
President Ma also mentioned that the government continues to gradually amend related laws and legislation to forge greater transparency in land prices and real estate transactions in the hope of creating a healthier real estate market. The government is establishing a system in which market prices of real estate transacted must be entered into a database. In addition, so long as the interests of property owners are not compromised, transaction data should be made public in order to provide greater transparency in the market, he said.
The president stressed that the holding of this international conference demonstrates the government's support for the development of a social housing movement and its determination to promote reform. High housing prices not only cause discontent among the public, but also constitute a source of social injustice. However, the president admitted that reform takes time and that the government will continue to work to improve the residential environment and living conditions for the public.
The guests were accompanied to the Presidential Office by Social Housing Advocacy Consortium Convener Chen Mei-ling (陳美鈴) and Deputy Minister of the Interior Lin Tzu-ling (林慈玲) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Thomas Yuan (袁桂笙).