The pace of urbanization is accelerating. How can we both protect the red line of arable land and expand the stock of construction land? On February 22, a reporter learned from the provincial government that the Several Opinions on Standardizing and Improving Rural Homestead Management (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) has been officially issued and implemented.

　　Who can apply for a homestead? How many homesteads can each household apply for? What fees must be paid to apply for a homestead? The answers to these questions can all be found in it.

　　"One household, one homestead": Those who sell or rent out their original homes and then apply again will not be approved

　　In the reform of the rural property rights system, homesteads have attracted much attention. Last year, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee deliberated and adopted the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform, proposing to protect farmers' usufructuary rights over homesteads and to reform and improve the rural homestead system.

　　What is a homestead? A homestead is collective construction land lawfully obtained by farmers for building residences and their ancillary living facilities.

　　The Opinions require that the whole province of Hunan strictly implement the "one household, one homestead" policy, and that a rural household may only have one homestead. The "household" here is determined according to the household registration in household registration management. That is to say, if the people registered in a household register are one family, then the family registered in that household register belongs to one household, and that household may only apply for one homestead. Of course, if children grow up and start their own families, and after household division they do not have enough living space, they may apply separately for a homestead.

　　For situations in which a person sells, rents out, or gives away the original residence to others and then applies for a homestead again, the Opinions require that homestead applications in such cases shall not be approved under any circumstances. As for the area of homesteads, the Opinions stipulate that when approving a homestead, the area of the homestead must not exceed the prescribed area standard.

　　Urban residents are strictly prohibited from purchasing homesteads in rural areas

　　At the same time, if a rural villager already has one homestead, they may not apply for another homestead, except where the ownership of the homestead changes due to inheritance.

　　Regarding farmers' occupation of arable land for housing construction, the Opinions propose the method of "reclaim first, occupy later." Scattered arable land reclaimed or developed by farmers themselves may be used specifically for the balance of occupation and compensation in farmers' housing construction.

　　Can urban residents buy rural homesteads? The Opinions set out provisions on homestead area and the conditions for applying for a homestead, strictly prohibit urban residents from purchasing homesteads in rural areas, and strictly prohibit issuing land use certificates to urban residents for residences they purchase or illegally build.

　　Arbitrary charges during the approval process are prohibited, and completion shall be within 45 working days

　　Within the scope of urban planning areas, in principle, single scattered homestead allocation will no longer be carried out. After considering farmers' practical needs, concentrated construction of new farmers' residences is encouraged.

　　The Opinions point out that the approval and management of homesteads shall be the responsibility of the county-level people's governments, and eligible applications should be completed within 45 working days.

　　It is worth noting that, in response to certain superstitious and feudal disorderly phenomena, the Opinions propose guiding villagers to eliminate superstitious ideas such as "consulting feng shui" and "choosing auspicious times," and to enhance farmers' awareness of lawfully using land and conserving land.

　　Regarding fees for homestead applications, the Opinions require that, apart from certificate production costs, land and resources departments at all levels are prohibited from collecting administrative, institutional, and service fees during the homestead approval process.