Chinese cities turn idle offices into affordable, convenient homes for young people

WUHAN, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- A shared study room, a gym and a youth activity hub line the ground floor of a building in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where a bulletin board advertises camping trips and board-game nights.

Once a quiet office building struggling to attract tenants, the block has been transformed into a residential community for young people to live, work and socialize.

Located beside the Maying Road metro station, this youth community has 825 furnished apartments ranging from 28 to 69 square meters. The property is part of the city's efforts to turn vacant commercial buildings into government-subsidized housing, with support from China's relending program.

A 40-square-meter loft costs around 2,000 yuan (about 298 U.S. dollars) in monthly rent, while various activities for young people are held regularly in public spaces.

In recent years, many cities have struggled with excess office space while young people and new urban residents find it difficult to secure reasonably priced homes near workplaces and public transport. According to real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, the office vacancy rate in 13 major Chinese cities had exceeded 25 percent in 2025.

Meanwhile, roughly 70 percent of new urban residents and young people in large Chinese cities rely on rental housing, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has noted. Many face a trade-off between affordable rent and convenient locations.

To address this mismatch, China introduced measures in 2024 allowing local state-owned enterprises to purchase completed but unsold commercial properties at reasonable prices for conversion into government-subsidized housing, with financial support through a relending scheme.

Wuhan has a population of more than 13 million people and is home to numerous universities and technology companies, attracting approximately 300,000 college graduates each year who choose to stay for either work or entrepreneurship.

At a renovated building in the city's technology hub, Guanggu Square, developers designed shared study areas, fitness equipment and e-sports rooms, while smart delivery robots were introduced to bring meals directly to residents' doors.

"Renovation is not simply a matter of repainting walls. It involves a fundamental redesign of how a building is used," said Wu Shiya, an official with Wuhan's housing and urban renewal authority.

Liu Ying, a postgraduate law student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, moved into a one-bedroom apartment in this area of Wuhan in August. She pays 2,100 yuan a month and can reach her university by electric scooter in less than 10 minutes.

"Safety was my biggest consideration," she said, noting the building's surveillance coverage and elevator access controls. She also makes frequent use of the shared study room.

Wuhan's housing and urban renewal authority said the city had acquired 21 commercial property projects for conversion, with a combined floor area of about 484,400 square meters.

These projects are expected to provide 10,034 affordable rental apartments. Of these, 14 projects, offering more than 5,300 apartments, are already operating, with an overall occupancy rate exceeding 90 percent.

Shenzhen, a major technology hub in southern China, meanwhile, also offers such converted affordable housing. In its Nanshan District, a former office tower has been converted into 744 apartments, more than 80 percent of which measure between 43 and 60 square meters in size.

Shared kitchens, a gym and an audiovisual room are among the facilities provided. The project recorded an occupancy rate of 95 percent in the first half of 2026, according to Yicai, a Chinese financial news outlet.

National figures point to a growing role for renovated properties in rental housing supply. According to China Real Estate Information Corp., a housing market research platform, conversion projects accounted for 33 percent of newly launched rental housing projects in the first half of 2026, up 7 percentage points year on year.

During the same period, 16 monitored cities added more than 103,625 rental units, including around 90,700 government-subsidized rental units, the Industry Council for China Rental Apartment, an industry think tank, has noted.

Xiao Wei, head of strategic consulting at real estate service company CBRE China, said the move could help property owners ease the burden of vacant assets while addressing demand for reasonably priced homes in urban areas.

"Government authorities can expand affordable housing supply and put underused assets to better use, property owners can improve their cash flow, and residents can gain access to housing with manageable rents and relatively good living conditions," Xiao said.