In recent days, lawyers have often received some inquiries: "We are not a shanty town, so why have we been "shantytown reformed"? We feel that it is unreasonable to compensate us according to the compensation standards for shantytown reform." So how should you judge whether your home is considered a shantytown? Neither national nor local policies provide a definite compensation standard for shantytowns.

Document No. 25 promulgated by the State Council only states that places with poor environment, poor housing, difficult renovation, and many safety hazards are shantytowns, but the connotation and denotation of shantytowns are not very clear. Each province has formulated relatively clear identification rules on the conceptual definition, identification standards, basis and procedures of urban shantytowns. They have similar basic frameworks, but there are some differences in some aspects. Next, we will introduce it to you with reference to the "Measures for the Recognition of Urban Shantytown Renovation Projects in Shandong Province" jointly formulated by the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Department of Finance, the Department of Land and Resources, and the Development and Reform Commission.

《The urban shantytowns referred to in the "Measures for the Identification of Urban Shantytown Renovation Projects in Shandong Province" mainly include urban shantytowns, urban dilapidated houses, urban edge villages, urban villages, urban shanty towns and coal mining subsidence areas located in the urban planning areas of Shandong Province.

According to understanding, the so-called urban shanty towns refer to areas in urban built-up areas where there are many simple-structure houses with poor quality, long service life, imperfect functions, many building safety hazards, high building density, and incomplete supporting facilities;

Urban dilapidated houses refer to houses that are rated as Class C or D by qualified professional inspection units in accordance with the "Dangerous House Appraisal Standards" (JGJ125). The housing quality is generally poor and needs to be demolished, built or rebuilt;

Chengbian villages refer to areas outside the built-up areas of cities (including county towns) and within planning areas that still implement rural administrative management;

Urban villages refer to areas in built-up areas of cities (including county towns) where land has been partially expropriated or not expropriated, where some of the original rural residents have been transferred or not transferred to urban household registration, and rural administrative management is still implemented;

The organic town residence refers to the area subject to planning control due to construction and development needs and the built-up area where the town government residence is established with the approval of the Provincial People's Government.

Coal mining subsidence areas refer to areas where the ground has collapsed to varying degrees due to coal mining and requires overall relocation;

If four of these ten conditions are met, they can be included in the scope of shanty town reconstruction.

The "Measures for the Recognition of Urban Shantytown Renovation Projects in Shandong Province" clarifies the basis and standards for the recognition of urban shantytowns. It is reported that residential areas can be included in the scope of urban housing reform if they meet any four of the following requirements at the same time:

1. Building structures mainly composed of brick-concrete structure, brick-wood structure, simple structure, etc.;

2. Have a relatively large building density, in principle above 40%;

3. Have a long service life. In principle, the houses are mainly more than 20 years old. The houses in villages near the city, villages in the city and organized towns are mainly more than 15 years old;

4. Houses with generally poor quality are rated as Class C or D according to the "Dangerous House Appraisal Standards";

5. The seismic resistance of the house structure does not comply with the "Seismic Protection Classification Standards for Earthquake-resistant Engineering" and the "Seismic Appraisal Standards for Building Structures";

6. There are no fire-fighting facilities and fire-fighting passages in the residential area, and there are potential safety hazards. The building fire protection does not comply with the requirements of the "Building Design Fire Protection Code", there are other safety hazards such as geological disasters, or there are major fire safety hazards;

7. Imperfect house functions, including house facilities and indoor space that cannot meet basic requirements (such as no separate kitchen and bathroom, no centralized water supply, etc.);

8. Unsound municipal infrastructure, supporting infrastructure such as gas supply, heating, water supply, electricity, sewage, transportation and garbage disposal are incomplete or in disrepair;

9. Weak public service facilities, no community services, medical and health care, basic education and other public service facilities, which are inconsistent with the requirements of the "Urban Residential Area Planning and Design Code";

10. Dangerous houses that seriously affect the implementation of urban planning and hinder the urban landscape.

The basis for identifying urban shantytowns includes relevant materials that can prove the function, age, nature, and current status of the houses; relevant materials that can prove that municipal infrastructure and public service facilities such as gas, heating, water, electricity, sewage, transportation, and garbage disposal are incomplete; fire safety assessment reports; geological disaster risk assessment reports; and dangerous building appraisal reports.

Six categories of urban shantytown reconstruction projects are prohibited

The "Measures for the Recognition of Urban Shantytown Renovation Projects in Shandong Province" states that the following six types of projects cannot be listed as urban shantytown renovation projects: factory renovation, industrial and mining enterprises and commercial facilities, school building renovation, nursing home renovation, renovation of old communities and other relocation and renovation projects; due to the expansion of urban roads, cultural House demolition and renovation projects brought about by property renovation and protection of historical blocks; real estate development projects; land increase and decrease linked, rural dilapidated house renovation projects; construction projects whose project name or nature has nothing to do with the renovation of urban shantytowns; new rural community construction projects outside urban planning areas.

What should you do when your house is converted into a shed?

1. When your house is being demolished due to "shed reform", it is necessary to check whether the demolition procedures are carried out in strict accordance with the "Regulations on Expropriation and Compensation of Houses on State-owned Land". If the demolition procedures are incorrect, it must be illegal. If a house is to be demolished by force, the expropriation and compensation decision must be made first, and then the court can apply for enforcement.

2. Relevant policies for shantytown reform stipulate that monetary compensation and physical resettlement shall be combined in shantytown reconstruction, and the expropriated persons shall voluntarily choose the method of compensation. In real life, the existence of a single compensation method is contrary to the spirit of relevant policies. The expropriated person has the right to refuse and protect his rights and interests through legal channels.

3. For expropriation projects that obviously do not belong to shantytowns but are forcibly defined as “shantytown reform”, the expropriated persons may consider joining together to sue the expropriation decision in court to see if it can be revoked.