小产权房 (xiǎochǎnquánfáng): 'small property rights' housing

Measure Word

一套小产权房 tào

Meanings

1 'small property rights' housing
2 housing built on rural collective land without a state land-use title (and therefore without full legal property rights)

Characters

Examples

小产权房价格便宜，但不受法律保护。

Xiǎochǎnquánfáng jiàgé piányi, dàn bú shòu fǎlǜ bǎohù.

'Small-rights' housing is cheap, but not legally protected.

他贪图便宜买了套小产权房，后来维权无门。

Tā tāntú piányi mǎi le tào xiǎochǎnquánfáng, hòulái wéiquán wú mén.

He went for the cheap price and bought a 'small-rights' apartment — and later had no way to defend his rights.

Tips

culture

Named in contrast to 大产权房 (standard housing with full state-issued title deed). Built by village collectives on rural land, they sell for a fraction of market price but cannot be mortgaged, resold freely, or registered with the housing authority — a permanent headache for Chinese land-rights reform.