Department of Urban Development, Taipei City Government

Taipei City has been facing increased housing prices in recent years. In order to assure the living rights of the citizens, Taipei City Government is promoting public rental housing, rental subsidies and rental management programs and related plans. The priority is to set renting houses as a housing policy to satisfy the needs of the citizens.
Ben Tai-Ming, the commissioner of the Department of Urban Development said that Taipei has the most state and affordable housing which leads the nation with public housing plans. Since 2011 when the government started its public rental housing policy, it aimed at medium income families as main target market, providing basic furniture and professional property management. Until now, the government has made a budget around 20 billion to promote the public housing policy. It aims to construct an additional 3,000 units of public housing in 2018. In addition, about 9,000 units of housing inventory could be added in from other ways.

As for rental subsidies, Taipei City Government has initiated different plans and policies assisting low-income families, people with disadvantages, pregnant women and aboriginal families. Eligible persons of those plans with the most applicants are subsidized more (not restricted to the application of households). Applicants who are qualified could get up to $5,000 NTD per month per housing unit for rental subsidy. Those who have more than three underage children could get up to $6,000 NTD per month per housing unit. In total, around 10,000 households have benefited from the four rental policies per year.
To solve the issue of the market not willing to rent houses to disadvantaged lessees due to problems of rent collection or process, Taipei City Government has promoted the Empty Residential Housing Government-Controlled Rental Management Plan. This plan, commissioned by professional firms, aims to support and provide service to the disadvantaged with monthly rental fees under $16,400 NTD.
Department of Urban Development expressed that housing policy has already been established to assist renting houses as a major policy. It will no longer construct houses for sale but to encourage public rental households to implement the policies and to provide services. This way it will elevate the housing market and set up diverse methods to assist residents to live well in Taipei.