For young people, accessible, high-quality, and affordable housing support is a crucial factor in feeling a city's warmth, improving their quality of life, and reducing living costs. On January 27, during the Fourth Session of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress, Li Fengyan, a Municipal People's Congress Representative and the Chief Operating Officer of KE Holdings Inc. City Business, stated in an exclusive interview that, from a fragmented rental market to a standardized industry ecosystem, Beijing is actively building a youth-friendly rental market by focusing on three key dimensions: supply, cost, and quality, in response to the current expectations of young people for housing rentals.
"Although the housing needs of young people are primarily concentrated in core industrial areas and their adjacent zones, the supply of rental housing in these locations is relatively scarce, and rents are notably higher," Li Fengyan said. Research data from an institution shows that approximately 40% of young people rent in areas such as Huilongguan, Wangjing, Shunyi urban area, Changying, and Qinghe, located between the Fifth and Sixth Ring Roads. Furthermore, the average monthly rent per square meter for rental housing occupied by individuals under 35 in Beijing is about 80 yuan. A difficult-to-reconcile contradiction persists between young people's demand for housing quality and their ability to bear the rental costs.
The 2026 Government Work Report emphasized the need to focus on stabilizing the real estate market, promoting the healthy development of the housing rental market, alleviating housing difficulties for young people, and improving the living conditions for urban operational service support personnel. Li Fengyan expressed that with an increasingly diverse range of social resources entering the housing rental market, young people now have more, and more convenient, choices. They not only have the opportunity to select homes that better suit their preferred location and layout but can also utilize price comparisons to find properties that align with their specific needs.
In reality, when it comes to their rental experience, young people seek both a "greater selection of available properties" and expect "better services." Solving the challenges young people face in renting cannot be achieved through a single initiative alone; it requires the construction of a long-term, stable, youth-friendly rental market ecosystem. Li Fengyan believes that creating a youth-friendly rental market necessitates sustained efforts across the three dimensions of supply, cost, and quality.
He elaborated that, first, there is a need to increase the supply of high-quality housing; the government could provide more high-quality public rental housing and consider converting suitable factory buildings or commercial-residential properties into rental units to address the issue of remote living locations. Simultaneously, to alleviate rental cost pressures, it is essential to introduce specialized low-interest rental loans and advance the use of housing provident funds for rent payments. Furthermore, to address shortcomings in residential facilities, daily convenience, and surrounding amenities, proactive improvements to the physical aspects of properties—such as enhancing safety measures and supporting facilities—are needed. This should be coupled with the introduction of laws and regulations to standardize practices in both direct landlord rentals and institutional leasing, thereby protecting the legitimate rights and interests of tenants.
Concurrently, as the city develops and its talent structure evolves, Beijing's rental market is poised to exhibit new trends. Li Fengyan predicts that the rental population in Beijing will undergo changes in demand; the city will see an increase in high-quality talent, such as professionals in the internet and AI sectors, who will have higher requirements for housing quality, internet speed, and other factors. Additionally, the government is expected to allocate more financial and material resources to provide new youth with superior housing, services, and guarantees.