In order to bring down house prices and meet the needs of local residents for housing, the Beijing authorities will build more new homes with the ownership rights shared by both the government and the property buyers.

Beijing officially floated the idea of joint property rights for the first time in a draft document released on Thursday. According to the document issued by the city's housing, planning, development and reform, land and finance departments, the new homes will be jointly owned by both the government and homebuyers, and the government will give the right of use to the buyers. Each household can only apply for one home, and a single person that applies for one of the houses with shared ownership rights should be over the age of 30.

Households applying for the new homes in districts where they live or work will have priority over purchasers from other districts, according to the draft document. In addition, at least 30 percent of the joint property rights housing should be allocated to families working in the city but without a permanent household registration in the capital.

Homeowners will not have the properties in their own names but they will be able to sell their shares in the properties after five years. The government or its assigned management agencies will have a preemptive right to buy back.