Beijing to shake up housing market near elite schools with new education policy
- Teachers in Beijing will get the opportunity to move to primary and middle schools across all 16 districts in the capital from September
- The move could douse speculation in properties with addresses around coveted elite schools to gain enrolment
China will implement a new policy of rotating teachers across different schools in Beijing from next quarter, a move likely to shake up demand and supply of so-called xuequfang, or “school district” properties in the nation’s capital.
Primary and middle school teachers in Beijing will get the opportunity to be reassigned to other schools in all 16 districts in the capital starting from the coming semester in September, the education bureau said in a statement on its website on July 20.
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“China specifically wants to ban the speculation on xuequfang this year, along with the target of education reformation,” said Wang Yuchen, head of Beijing Jinsu law firm. “We could see prices tumbling soon with diminishing demand.”
The new rotation policy, which aims to promote equality across the formative “nine years of compulsory education”, was first launched in August 2021. It was piloted in Dongcheng and Miyun districts. Broadening the move to all 16 districts could cool home prices as targeted.
“The new policy will largely discourage people from seeking the school district homes,” said Yan Yuejin, director of Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute. “If teachers switch across different schools, it means the education quality will be more evenly distributed and it is unnecessary to focus on one particular school.”
