Renting and Buying a Home in China: Nine Rules That Protect Your Money

Renting is where people most often lose deposits and prepaid rent; buying is where the biggest single sums are at risk. China's Housing Rental Regulations (effective 15 September 2025) and related rules give tenants more protection than most people realise.

Renting

1. Put the deposit amount, refund date and deduction reasons in the contract

The regulation requires landlords who collect a deposit to specify the amount, the return date and the circumstances in which it can be reduced, and says that outside the cases in the contract the landlord may not deduct it without good reason. Photograph and film the flat, and meter readings, when you move out. If the deposit is withheld, complain to the housing rental authority first; for small sums, use small-claims court.

2. If you are locked out, cut off or threatened, call the police

Landlords may not use violence, threats or other illegal means to force you to cancel the lease or leave. Water or power cut-offs and changed locks are examples. Call the police and keep the record: it becomes evidence if you later claim losses. Do not confront the landlord yourself.

3. Pay the landlord directly, not through the agent

Agencies are prohibited from collecting or paying rent and deposits on the landlord's behalf. Money passing through an agent is one more chance for it to disappear, and if it does you pay rent twice and may be evicted. Check that the payee matches the name on the property certificate, and ask for written authorisation if it doesn't.

4. Check a long-term-rental company's escrow account; don't prepay a year for a small discount

Companies that sublet flats must set up and publicly disclose a rental-funds escrow account. A small discount for paying a year upfront does not justify the risk of losing your deposit and the remaining months if the company collapses. A rent loan tied to the lease is worse: if the company disappears, you keep repaying monthly.

5. A sale during your lease doesn't end it

Under the Civil Code, a change of ownership during the lease does not affect the lease's validity. The new owner must let you stay to the end of the term, provided you were lawfully in possession; keep the contract, payment records and move-in evidence.

6. Check the title and mortgage before signing, and pay only by traceable transfer

The two most common total losses are paying someone who isn't the owner, and renting a flat already mortgaged and later seized. Check ownership and mortgage records at the local property registry, ask the landlord to attend in person (or bring a power of attorney), and require the head landlord's written consent if subletting. Always transfer money and write the purpose in the memo, such as "March rent for Unit X". This is the author's practical advice, not a statutory rule.

7. Rent a partitioned room? Don't

The smallest rental unit is the originally designed room; kitchens, bathrooms, balconies and basement storerooms may not be rented as living space, and landlords may not raise rent unilaterally during the term. When a partitioned flat is shut down, the tenant is the one who has to move and often loses the deposit and prepaid rent. Fire safety is also worse: walls block escape routes and a single wiring circuit serves many people.

Buying

8. Used-home payments through an agent must go to a supervised account

The agent regulation requires funds that an agency collects and pays out to move through its dedicated customer settlement account at a bank, not a broker's personal WeChat or bank account. When two agencies cooperate on one deal, only one commission may be charged, and mortgage or title services must be contracted separately with fees disclosed in advance.

9. City residents who want a rural home should rent, not buy

State Council and Ministry of Agriculture documents prohibit urban residents from buying homestead land, farmers' houses or "small-property-right" homes. The legal route is a rental, with a maximum term of 20 years, renewable by agreement. Sign a written lease with the household, spelling out term, rent, and what happens to renovations, and never pay many years upfront or agree to "50-year" contracts.

Compare the costs yourself with our rent vs buy calculator and mortgage calculator.

Source and license: adapted from HowToLiveBetter (高性价比人生指南) by eternity4719, Section 5 "Don't Waste Money", licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter). We condensed and translated the original entries; see the source for evidence grades and citations. Rules described here apply to mainland China and may change. This is educational content, not investment, tax or insurance advice.