Billions stolen from China’s low-cost housing programme

China’s affordable housing programme lost nearly 6 billion yuan to embezzlement last year, the national auditor reported on Friday, underscoring the obstacles to official efforts to fight graft.

About 5.8 billion yuan (HK$7.35 million) went towards “loan repayment, foreign investment, land requisition and house demolitions, office cash flow and other expenses not related to affordable-housing projects”, the National Audit Office said on its website.

A total of 360 projects or organisations “embezzled” the funds, it said.

Housing costs – which have spiralled in recent years despite government controls – have become a sensitive issue as ordinary Chinese find themselves struggling to afford a home.

China plans to build 36 million affordable-housing units from 2011 to 2015 and the programme received almost 880 billion yuan last year, the audit office said, constructing 5.9 million units and assisting 9.5 million families.

But 110,000 families produced false documents to qualify for assistance unfairly, it added.