Crackdown on Beijing housing market irregularities intensified

Beijing housing authorities have intensified a crackdown on irregularities in the housing market in a bid to cool the overheated rental market.

In a statement released on its website last week, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said it is coordinating with 10 other major departments in Beijing to regulate the market.

The special operation, which started in July, will last until December.

Since the beginning of the year, a special group led by the Beijing housing authorities, the city’s banking regulator and its finance and tax bureaus has strengthened a clampdown on market irregularities that have fueled increases in housing prices.

Speculative activities that have been targeted include the monopolizing of housing resources to manipulate rents. The statement said the crackdown will also focus on misleading information from housing agencies.