Subsidy Distribution and Mortgage Interest Rate Subsidies, Multi-City Housing New Policies Support First-time Homebuyers and New Parents

What are the innovative approaches to housing support for first-time married couples and new parents across different regions?

Reported by Li Sha, China Business News
This year’s government work report proposed to strengthen housing security for first-time married and new parent families and support multi-child families in improving their housing needs. This is the first time “strengthening housing security for first-time married and new parent families” has been included in the government work report.

According to experts interviewed, previous housing support policies related to marriage and childbirth mainly favored multi-child families. By including first-time married and new parent families in the scope of housing security, the government aims to reduce young couples’ marriage and childbirth costs through housing policies and demonstrates the central government’s emphasis on promoting marriage and childbirth through housing support.

Some cities have already begun exploring relevant practices, such as Nanning and Qianjiang, which support newlyweds and single-child families in purchasing homes through subsidies or purchase bonuses; Nanchong offers certain mortgage interest subsidies to eligible first-time married couples to lower their housing costs.

Experts believe that more cities will follow suit in developing housing support policies for first-time married and new parent families, exploring targeted housing subsidies, increasing support for housing provident funds, favoring affordable housing, and providing rental subsidies.

According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2025, in 2024, there were 6.1056 million marriage registrations nationwide, with 9.1723 million being first marriages, accounting for over 75% of all marriage registrations. In recent years, the average age of first marriage in China has been delayed. The China Population Census Yearbook 2020 shows that in 2020, the average age at first marriage was 28.67 years, with men averaging 29.38 years and women 27.95 years. Overall, compared to 2010, the age at first marriage has been delayed by 3.78 years over the past decade.

The age of first marriage is influenced by increased education levels and employment pressures, while housing affordability has become another key factor affecting marriage and childbirth timing.

“First homes for newlyweds significantly impact their quality of life, involving employment, childbirth, parenting, and education,” said Ma Liang, a professor at Peking University’s School of Government. He noted that young couples often have limited financial resources and frequently rely on parental support to buy a home.

Zhang Bo, director of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, told China Business News that in reality, first-time married and new parent groups are mostly composed of new residents and young people, many of whom face challenges such as insufficient funds for purchasing homes and unstable rental situations. The pressures of buying or renting homes have become important factors influencing marriage and childbirth decisions.

During this year’s National Two Sessions, Xie Wenmin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and director of Hubei Shouyi Law Firm, openly stated in an interview that many young couples need to buy a house first before getting married. Housing expenses are the most significant financial burden for newlyweds, and for many, this creates substantial pressure. Currently, support policies focus mainly on childbirth and parenting stages, with relatively fewer policies related to marriage, education, and housing, making the support during the marriage phase somewhat lagging.

Previously, improving housing support policies has become an important direction for building a birth-friendly society. On October 19, 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the Measures for Accelerating the Improvement of the Birth Support Policy System and Promoting the Construction of a Birth-Friendly Society, which clearly emphasizes strengthening housing support policies, including increasing the quota for housing provident fund loans, expanding the supply of affordable housing, and accelerating the development of the housing rental market. Local policies have also been introduced, but earlier measures mainly favored multi-child families or families with minors, with relatively less focus on supporting first-time married and new parent families.

This year, the government work report explicitly states that, in deploying social security and services, efforts will be made to strengthen housing security for first-time married and new parent families and support multi-child families in improving their housing needs.

Ma Liang pointed out that the focus on housing security for first-time married and new parent families in the government work report reflects the central government’s concern about this group’s real difficulties and demonstrates its emphasis on promoting marriage and childbirth through housing support.

Zhang Bo believes that including first-time married and new parent families in the support scope essentially aims to reduce marriage and childbirth costs through housing policies and promote long-term balanced population development.

Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House Research Institute, stated that current housing efforts are closely linked with national population development strategies and changes in family structure. The needs of first-time married and new parent groups often correspond to genuine housing demands, which require policy support especially at this stage. The deployment in the government work report further highlights the important role of housing policies in promoting long-term balanced population development.

The China Business News reporter found that some regions are already taking the lead in strengthening housing support for first-time married and new parent families, with policies already implemented.

On December 1, 2025, Nanning issued a document clarifying the implementation of a phased new marriage housing subsidy, providing a 20,000 yuan subsidy per new home for newlyweds who obtain marriage certificates within a specified period and purchase new commercial housing. Similarly, Changji City announced new real estate policies on March 2, 2026, including a 20,000 yuan housing voucher for newlyweds or families with newborns.

On January 28, Jieshi City introduced the 2026 New Commercial Housing Purchase Bonus Policy, offering a 200 yuan per square meter purchase subsidy for eligible single-child families, distributed via “bonus vouchers” to offset the purchase price.

On March 2, Nanchong City announced the Six Measures to Stabilize the New Birth Population, including a policy to provide a 1% housing consumption loan interest subsidy for couples registering their marriage for the first time in Nanchong, with a maximum loan amount of 200,000 yuan.

Additionally, the China Index Academy reports that places like Renguang County in Shaoguan, Xinyang City in Maoming, and Liancheng County in Longyan have also provided housing subsidies to new families to reduce their costs.

A relevant person from the China Index Academy told China Business News that overall, local policies supporting housing for first-time married and new parent families mainly involve targeted housing subsidies, increasing affordable housing options for these families, and offering loan interest subsidies. These measures serve as references for other cities, and it is expected that more regions will follow suit, expanding policy scope and increasing support.

Ma Liang believes that local governments have achieved some success in exploring housing security for first-time married and new parent families. Future efforts could further focus on matching rental housing with purchase subsidies. On one hand, optimizing affordable rental housing, youth apartments, and rental subsidies can help young people secure housing. On the other hand, providing purchase subsidies, sale-type affordable housing, and housing provident fund mortgages can assist these families in buying homes, making their housing more secure.

The China Index Academy expects that credit and fiscal policies will remain key areas of support for housing consumption. Policies supporting multi-child families may be extended to first-time married and new parent families, with efforts to lower barriers such as increasing housing provident fund loan limits, reducing down payment ratios, lowering mortgage interest rates, providing mortgage interest subsidies, increasing rental and purchase subsidies, offering tax deductions for interest, and reducing agency fees.

Zhang Bo believes that future purchase subsidy policies for first-time married and new parent families could become more targeted, such as providing differentiated purchase subsidies or tax reductions based on the number of children, lowering down payment requirements, or combining marriage and childbirth subsidies with housing purchase or rental discounts to reduce housing costs.

Additionally, Zhang Bo suggests that in the future, first-time married and new parent families may enjoy priority when applying for affordable housing, such as preferential allocation in affordable rental housing, with considerations for household type needs, and possibly prioritizing in public rental housing and affordable housing projects.