Regulations on Housing Leasing — Full English Translation (2025)

Adopted at the 62nd Executive Meeting of the State Council on June 27, 2025; promulgated by Decree No. 812 of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on July 16, 2025

Effective: September 15, 2025

Table of Contents

Chapter I — General Provisions

Article 1 — These Regulations are formulated to regulate housing leasing activities, protect the lawful rights and interests of the parties to housing leasing activities, stabilize housing leasing relationships, promote the high-quality development of the housing leasing market, and accelerate the establishment of a housing system that combines renting and purchasing.

Article 2 — These Regulations apply to housing leasing activities on state-owned urban land and the supervision and administration thereof.

Article 3 — The development of the housing leasing market shall implement the line, principles and policies and the decisions and arrangements of the Party and the state, and adhere to the combination of market orientation and government guidance.

Article 4 — The housing and urban-rural development authority of the State Council is responsible for the supervision and administration of housing leasing activities nationwide.
The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level are responsible for the supervision and administration of housing leasing activities within their respective administrative regions.
The market regulation, public security and other authorities of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with these Regulations and other relevant laws and regulations, be responsible for the supervision and administration of housing leasing activities within their respective scope of duties.

Article 5 — The state encourages resident households to use their own housing for leasing, supports enterprises in revitalizing and renovating old factory buildings, commercial and office premises, self-held commercial housing and the like for leasing, and increases the supply of rental housing through multiple channels.
The state encourages lessors and lessees to establish stable housing leasing relationships in accordance with law, and promotes equal rights of rented and purchased housing in enjoying public services.

Article 6 — Persons engaging in housing leasing activities shall abide by laws and regulations, follow the principles of equality, voluntariness, fairness and good faith, shall not endanger national security, harm the public interest and the lawful rights and interests of others, and shall not violate public order and good morals.

Chapter II — Leasing and Tenancy

Article 7 — Housing used for leasing shall comply with the laws, regulations, rules and mandatory standards on construction, fire safety, gas, interior decoration and the like, and shall not endanger personal safety and health.
Non-residential spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, balconies, corridors, underground storage rooms and garages shall not be separately leased for residential purposes.
The maximum number of persons accommodated per room and the minimum per-capita leasing area of rental housing shall comply with the standards prescribed by the people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts.

Article 8 — Lessors and lessees shall sign housing leasing contracts under their real names.
Lessors shall, in accordance with provisions, file the housing leasing contract with the real estate administration authority at the place where the leased housing is located through the housing leasing management service platform or other means. The real estate administration authority shall improve the service level for the filing of housing leasing contracts and shall not charge any fees for the filing of housing leasing contracts.
Where the lessor has not handled the filing of the housing leasing contract, the lessee may handle the filing.

Article 9 — Lessors shall comply with the following provisions:
(1) presenting to the lessee the identity certification materials, the immovable property ownership certificate of the housing to be leased or other materials proving that they have the lawful right to lease, and cooperating with the lessee in inquiring about and verifying the relevant information of the housing to be leased in accordance with law;
(2) verifying the lessee’s identity certification materials, and not leasing the housing to units or individuals that refuse to present identity certification materials;
(3) not entering the leased housing without authorization, except with the consent of the lessee or where entry is permitted in accordance with law.

Article 10 — Where a lessor collects a deposit, the amount of the deposit, the time of return and the circumstances for deducting the deposit shall be agreed in the housing leasing contract. Except for the circumstances agreed in the housing leasing contract, the lessor shall not deduct the deposit without justifiable reasons.

Article 11 — Lessees shall comply with the following provisions:
(1) presenting identity certification materials to the lessor;
(2) using the leased housing safely and reasonably, not damaging, removing or disabling fire-fighting facilities without authorization or altering the load-bearing structure of the leased housing, and not privately installing or connecting water, electricity or gas pipelines;
(3) not changing the use of the leased housing, removing or altering interior facilities, or altering other structures of the leased housing without the consent of the lessor;
(4) abiding by property management covenants, not discarding garbage at will, discharging pollutants beyond standards or producing noise, raising animals in violation of provisions, constructing illegally, occupying public passages, throwing objects from heights, or committing other acts that harm the lawful rights and interests of others;
(5) cooperating with the lessor where the lessor needs to enter the leased housing in accordance with law.

Article 12 — Where a lessor terminates a housing leasing contract in accordance with law, the lessor shall notify the lessee and leave a reasonable time for the lessee to vacate the leased housing.
A lessor shall not use violence, threats or other illegal means to force the lessee to terminate the housing leasing contract or vacate the leased housing.

Article 13 — Where a housing leasing contract is continuously performed for the prescribed period, the lessor shall enjoy the corresponding policy support in accordance with the relevant provisions, and the lessee shall enjoy the corresponding basic public services in accordance with the relevant provisions.

Chapter III — Housing Leasing Enterprises

Article 14 — The state improves policy measures and cultivates market-oriented and professional housing leasing enterprises.
“Housing leasing enterprises” means enterprises that carry out housing leasing business with their own housing or the housing of others for which they have lawfully obtained the right of operation and management. Housing leasing enterprises shall possess their own funds, employees and management capacity commensurate with their scale of operation.
Where housing leasing enterprises lease housing, the provisions of these Regulations on lessors shall apply.

Article 15 — The business scope registered by a housing leasing enterprise in accordance with law shall use the expression “housing leasing”.
A housing leasing enterprise shall, within 30 days from the date of obtaining its business license, submit its business commencement information to the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level at its locality. The real estate administration authority shall make public the business commencement information of housing leasing enterprises.
A housing leasing enterprise shall publicize its business commencement information, service norms and standards at a conspicuous location in its business premises.

Article 16 — The housing listing information such as the address, area and rent of housing published by a housing leasing enterprise shall be true, accurate and complete; the listing information published through different channels such as its business premises and the internet shall be consistent; the housing pictures published shall be consistent with the actual housing; and it shall not publish false or misleading listing information, or conceal or refuse to provide important information about the housing to be leased.

Article 17 — Housing leasing enterprises shall establish housing leasing archives, truthfully record the relevant information, and improve internal management systems such as housing leasing information verification.
Housing leasing enterprises shall not illegally collect, use, process or transmit the personal information of others, and shall not illegally buy, sell, provide or disclose the personal information of others.

Article 18 — Housing leasing enterprises shall, in accordance with provisions, submit to the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level at their locality the information on the leased housing under their operation and the changes thereto.

Article 19 — Housing leasing enterprises engaged in subleasing business shall, in accordance with provisions, establish a housing leasing funds supervision account and make it public to society, and handle the receipt and payment business of housing leasing funds through that account. The specific measures shall be formulated by the housing and urban-rural development authority of the State Council together with the relevant authorities of the State Council.

Article 20 — Where natural persons sublease the housing of others to carry out housing leasing business and their scale of operation reaches the standard prescribed by the housing and urban-rural development authority of the State Council together with the market regulatory authority and other relevant authorities of the State Council, the provisions of these Regulations on housing leasing enterprises shall apply.

Chapter IV — Brokerage Institutions

Article 21 — Real estate brokerage institutions engaged in housing leasing business (hereinafter referred to as “housing leasing brokerage institutions”) shall possess their own funds, employees and management capacity commensurate with their scale of operation.

Article 22 — Housing leasing brokerage institutions shall file the list of their employees with the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level at their locality. Employees of housing leasing brokerage institutions shall not carry out business at two or more housing leasing brokerage institutions at the same time.
Employees of housing leasing brokerage institutions shall not undertake housing leasing brokerage business in their personal names.

Article 23 — Before publishing listing information, housing leasing brokerage institutions shall verify and record the client’s identity information and housing ownership information, conduct an on-site inspection of the housing, sign a housing leasing brokerage service contract with the client, and prepare a housing condition description. The housing leasing brokerage service contract and the housing condition description shall bear the seal of the housing leasing brokerage institution and be kept in accordance with the relevant provisions.

Article 24 — The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 15 and of Articles 16 and 17 of these Regulations shall apply to housing leasing brokerage institutions.

Article 25 — Housing leasing brokerage institutions shall not commit any of the following acts:
(1) providing brokerage services for the leasing of housing that does not comply with the laws, regulations, rules or mandatory standards on construction, fire safety, gas, interior decoration and the like;
(2) providing brokerage services for the separate leasing of non-residential spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, balconies, corridors, underground storage rooms and garages for residential purposes;
(3) providing brokerage services for the leasing of housing whose maximum number of persons per room or minimum per-capita leasing area does not comply with the prescribed standards;
(4) collecting or paying housing rent or deposits on behalf of others;
(5) signing housing leasing contracts in the name of the parties without their consent;
(6) other acts prohibited by laws, regulations and rules.

Article 26 — Housing leasing brokerage institutions shall clearly mark the prices of their charged services, and shall not add charges beyond the marked prices or collect unmarked fees.

Article 27 — Where a lessor and a lessee sign a housing leasing contract through a housing leasing brokerage institution, the housing leasing brokerage institution shall handle the filing of the housing leasing contract.

Chapter V — Supervision and Administration

Article 28 — The housing and urban-rural development authority of the State Council shall, together with the market regulatory authority of the State Council, formulate and publish model texts for housing leasing contracts and housing leasing brokerage service contracts.

Article 29 — The people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts shall establish a housing rent monitoring mechanism and regularly publish information on the rent levels of housing in different areas and of different types within their respective administrative regions.

Article 30 — The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall carry out management and services such as contract filing, leasing housing information management, and statistical monitoring through the housing leasing management service platform, and establish information sharing mechanisms with the departments of civil affairs, natural resources, education, market regulation, financial regulation, public security, taxation and statistics.

Article 31 — The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, together with the relevant departments, strengthen the supervision and inspection of housing leasing activities and promptly deal with illegal acts in accordance with law.

Article 32 — The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level may entrust implementing units to undertake specific supporting and auxiliary work related to housing leasing administration. The implementing units entrusted by the real estate administration authorities shall not be for-profit.
The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall strengthen supervision over the implementing units entrusted by them and bear legal liability for the consequences of the acts of the implementing units within the scope of entrustment.

Article 33 — The real estate administration authorities of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, together with the relevant departments and industry organizations related to housing leasing, strengthen the integrity building of the housing leasing industry, establish a credit evaluation system for housing leasing enterprises, housing leasing brokerage institutions and their employees, record the relevant illegal and irregular acts in credit records, incorporate them into the national credit information sharing platform, and implement classified and tiered supervision and administration according to their credit status.

Article 34 — Industry organizations related to housing leasing shall establish and improve industry norms, strengthen industry self-discipline management, and promote the healthy development of the industry.

Article 35 — Where disputes arise in housing leasing activities over the return of deposits, housing repairs, housing vacation and the like, they shall be resolved through negotiation between the lessor and the lessee; where negotiation fails, mediation, arbitration or litigation may be applied for in accordance with law.

Article 36 — Network platform operators providing housing leasing information publishing services (hereinafter referred to as “network platform operators”) shall verify the true identity information of the publishers of housing leasing information.
Where network platform operators know or should know that an information publisher has illegal circumstances such as providing false information, they shall, in accordance with law, take necessary measures such as deleting the relevant information, preserve the relevant records, and report to the relevant departments.
Network platform operators shall not collect or pay housing rent or deposits on behalf of others.

Article 37 — Lessors shall truthfully register and submit the information of lessees and actual residents in accordance with provisions, and shall promptly report to the public security organs upon discovering illegal or criminal activities. The specific measures shall be formulated by the public security authority of the State Council.
Lessees shall not use the leased housing to carry out illegal or criminal activities.

Chapter VI — Legal Liability

Article 38 — Where any of the following circumstances exists, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws, regulations and rules:
(1) leasing housing that does not comply with the laws, regulations, rules or mandatory standards on construction, fire safety, gas, interior decoration and the like;
(2) damaging, removing or disabling fire-fighting facilities without authorization;
(3) altering the load-bearing structure of the leased housing;
(4) privately installing or connecting water, electricity or gas pipelines.

Article 39 — Where non-residential spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, balconies, corridors, underground storage rooms and garages are separately leased for residential purposes, or the leased housing does not comply with the prescribed maximum number of persons per room or minimum per-capita leasing area standard, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction and give a warning; where correction is refused, a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed on the unit, and a fine of not less than 2,000 yuan and not more than 10,000 yuan on the individual; where there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated.

Article 40 — Where housing leasing enterprises or housing leasing brokerage institutions do not possess their own funds, employees and management capacity commensurate with their scale of operation, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction and give a warning; where correction is refused and serious consequences are caused, suspension of business for rectification shall be ordered.

Article 41 — Where housing leasing enterprises or housing leasing brokerage institutions have any of the following circumstances, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction and give a warning; where correction is refused, a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan shall be imposed:
(1) failing to submit business commencement information in accordance with provisions;
(2) failing to publicize the enterprise’s business commencement information, service norms and standards at a conspicuous location in its business premises;
(3) failing to establish housing leasing archives and truthfully record the relevant information, or failing to improve internal management systems such as housing leasing information verification;
(4) failing to handle the filing of housing leasing contracts in accordance with provisions.
Where a housing leasing enterprise fails to submit the information on the leased housing under its operation and the changes thereto in accordance with provisions, or a housing leasing brokerage institution fails to sign a housing leasing brokerage service contract with the client or prepare a housing condition description in accordance with provisions, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Article 42 — Where housing leasing enterprises or housing leasing brokerage institutions publish false or misleading listing information, or conceal or refuse to provide important information about the housing to be leased, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction, give a warning, and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan; where there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; where correction is refused, suspension of business for rectification shall be ordered; where the circumstances are serious, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall request the market regulatory authority at the same level to revoke its business license in accordance with law.
Where housing leasing enterprises or housing leasing brokerage institutions illegally collect, use, process or transmit the personal information of others, or illegally buy, sell, provide or disclose the personal information of others, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the laws and regulations on personal information protection.

Article 43 — Where a housing leasing enterprise engaged in subleasing business fails to establish a housing leasing funds supervision account and make it public to society in accordance with provisions, or fails to handle the receipt and payment business of housing leasing funds through that account in accordance with provisions, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction, give a warning, and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan; where correction is refused, a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan and not more than 500,000 yuan shall be imposed.

Article 44 — Where housing leasing brokerage institutions have any of the following circumstances, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction, give a warning, and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan and not more than 100,000 yuan; where there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; where correction is refused, suspension of business for rectification shall be ordered:
(1) failing to verify and record the client’s identity information and housing ownership information before publishing listing information, or failing to conduct an on-site inspection of the housing;
(2) providing brokerage services for the leasing of housing that does not comply with the laws, regulations, rules or mandatory standards on construction, fire safety, gas, interior decoration and the like;
(3) providing brokerage services for the separate leasing of non-residential spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, balconies, corridors, underground storage rooms and garages for residential purposes;
(4) providing brokerage services for the leasing of housing whose maximum number of persons per room or minimum per-capita leasing area does not comply with the prescribed standards;
(5) collecting or paying housing rent or deposits on behalf of others;
(6) signing housing leasing contracts in the name of the parties without their consent;
(7) failing to file the list of its employees in accordance with provisions.
Where network platform operators collect or pay housing rent or deposits on behalf of others, penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the preceding paragraph.

Article 45 — Where employees of housing leasing brokerage institutions carry out business at two or more housing leasing brokerage institutions at the same time, or undertake housing leasing brokerage business in their personal names, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall order correction, give a warning, and may impose a fine of not more than 10,000 yuan; where there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated; where correction is refused, they shall not engage in housing leasing brokerage business within one year; where the circumstances are serious, they shall not engage in housing leasing brokerage business within five years.

Article 46 — Where network platform operators fail to perform their verification responsibilities, the real estate administration authority of the local people’s government at or above the county level shall notify the cyberspace administration authority, which shall handle the matter in accordance with its duties and may impose a fine of not more than 100,000 yuan; where the circumstances are serious, it may order the suspension of the relevant business or suspension of business for rectification.

Article 47 — Where functionaries of the real estate administration authorities and other relevant authorities abuse their power, neglect their duties or practice favoritism and fraud in the supervision and administration of housing leasing activities, sanctions shall be imposed in accordance with law.

Article 48 — Where a violation of these Regulations causes losses to others, compensation liability shall be borne in accordance with law; where it constitutes a violation of public security administration, public security administrative penalties shall be imposed by the public security organs in accordance with law; where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be pursued in accordance with law.

Chapter VII — Supplementary Provisions

Article 49 — Where the state provides otherwise for the leasing activities of government-subsidized housing and the supervision and administration thereof, such provisions shall prevail.
For housing leasing activities on collective land, the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall formulate administrative measures in light of the actual circumstances.

Article 50 — These Regulations shall take effect on September 15, 2025.

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