The Executive Yuan yesterday proposed measures to help rein in real-estate prices, which have spiked due to “hot money” pouring into the local market.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), at a meeting in Taipei, instructed government officials to ensure that people could afford to buy a home.
Su said that housing is for residential purposes and should not become a commodity, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Li Meng-yen (李孟諺) told a news conference after the meeting.
Photo: Chen Yun, Taipei Times
The measures include stepping up reviews of so-called “pink form” transactions — used to place a reservation on a housing unit — by the Ministry of the Interior and local governments, the Executive Yuan said.
The ministry has also been tasked with amending the registration system of actual real-estate transaction prices to include individual units, instead of just general transactions, it said.
Measures to evade real-estate sales or purchasing taxes should also be investigated, it added.
The government is also considering adjusting loans for buyers of real-estate who do not intend to reside in the property, it said, adding that it was also urging banks to be cautious when considering loans requested by construction companies for new housing units.
If necessary, the central bank should intervene, while the Financial Supervisory Commission should also step up its reviews of real-estate loans to prevent speculation, the Executive Yuan said.
The government plans to build more social housing projects next year across 18 counties and cities, it said, adding that it would also increase the number of households eligible to benefit from subsidies to 120,000, up from 60,000.
That would be only the first wave of measures and should real-estate speculation continue, additional measures would be implemented, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡璧如) said that the Executive Yuan’s measures were only short-term cures, calling on the government to amend the registration system of actual real-estate transaction prices and to impose a tax on vacant properties.
TPP Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) said that her party has proposed a bill that would allow users of the system to see housing units being sold in real time, empower authorities to review and approve data, and provide a legal basis for fines.
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