Local scholar suggests role of rental costs

Chang Chin-oh, a professor in National Chengchi University's Department of Land Economics and long an advocate of affordable housing, said soaring housing prices in Taipei City have resulted from speculative buying rather than a lack of supply.

“Increasing supply will never solve the housing price problem,” he said.

Chang observed that many houses in Taipei City remain dark at night, and the low power consumption of the city's residential buildings also proves that the city is littered with empty houses.

The government should therefore adopt an affordable housing policy based on rentals that protects the people's residency rights, Chang said.

He recommended that the public housing the government plans to build be rented to low income families rather than sold, so that salaried workers who cannot afford to buy their own houses can have places to live at reasonable rents.

Chang also advised the young generation that owning a house is not necessary, because it will not only increase their financial burden but also create restrictions in choosing their workplace.

The government said last month that it will offer 4,000 affordable housing units for sale near the yet-to-be-completed Linkou Station of the Taipei Mass Rapid Transit system in 2013.

Lin Tzu-ling, deputy minister of the Ministry of the Interior said Thursday that each unit will be sold for about NT$170,000 to NT$180,000 per ping (3.3 square meters), but the government will try to keep the price as low as NT$150,000 per ping to meet public expectations.

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