Legal information

The current housing prices are still high, and the housing rental market is becoming more and more active as more and more people move to work, live and run businesses in other places. Tenants in Beijing and even across the country have become frightened after experiencing a rent increase storm, fearing that one day the landlord will suddenly propose to raise the rent. Requesting a rent increase is a test for both parties, both mentally and on the rental contract signed at the time.

The question of whether or not to increase rents is enough to make people upset, but many landlords and tenants are unaware that more and more rental properties are being involved in land acquisition and demolition projects carried out across the country. Land acquisition and demolition have brought greater challenges to both parties to the lease.

In recent days, several screenshots of WeChat chat records have appeared on various media platforms, causing widespread discussion among netizens. The content of the screenshot is roughly about the tenant believing that he has been renting for three years in a rental house that is about to be demolished and is an "actual resettlement target", and therefore requires the landlord to give him half of the demolition money.

So do tenants have the right to receive compensation for the demolition of their rented houses? The lawyer below will answer this question from two parts: relevant laws and regulations and facts.

Relevant legal provisions on the expropriation of houses on state-owned land:

According to the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Expropriation and Compensation of Houses on State-Owned Land", if the houses of entities or individuals on state-owned land are expropriated in order to safeguard public interests, fair compensation should be given to the owners of the expropriated houses (hereinafter referred to as the expropriated persons).

In addition, according to other relevant provisions of the Regulations, the compensation provided to the expropriated person by the municipal or county-level people's government that made the decision to expropriate the house includes:

(1) Compensate for the value of the expropriated houses;

(2) Compensate the expropriated persons with temporary resettlement fees for relocation and temporary resettlement caused by house expropriation;

(3) Compensation for losses caused by cessation of business activities due to house expropriation.

The municipal and county-level people's governments that make the expropriation decision should provide certain subsidies and rewards to the expropriated persons.

In addition, according to the relevant provisions of the "Regulations", the expropriated person can have two choices for expropriation compensation, one is monetary compensation, and the other is house property rights exchange compensation. People's governments at the city and county levels should provide houses for property rights exchange to expropriated persons who choose house property rights exchange as compensation, and should calculate the value of the expropriated houses and then settle the difference between the value of the expropriated houses and the value of the houses used for property rights exchange.

If personal residences are expropriated due to the need for reconstruction in old urban areas, the people's government at the city or county level that makes the decision on house expropriation shall provide the expropriated person who chooses to exchange the property rights of the house in the reconstruction area with a house in the reconstruction area or a nearby area.

As can be seen from the above, the expropriated person in the Regulations usually refers to the owner of the expropriated and demolished house, and the compensation objects are the corresponding rights holders according to different compensation items.

Relevant regulations for house demolition on collective land:

In addition to the relevant principle provisions of the Land Management Law and the Implementation Regulations of the Land Management Law, local governments have also formulated relevant local laws and regulations for the demolition of houses on collective land. The following takes the "Beijing Municipal Collective Land Housing Demolition Management Measures" as an example to illustrate.

According to the relevant provisions of the Measures, the unit or individual who owns the house to be expropriated and demolished is called the expropriated person in these Measures.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Measures", those whose houses have been expropriated and demolished can choose to receive monetary compensation or choose property rights exchange and resettlement housing as compensation. In some areas, homestead sites can even be approved.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Measures", in addition to providing certain compensation and resettlement to the expropriated persons who use their own houses in the homestead to engage in production and business activities and hold industrial and commercial business licenses, the expropriating party should also appropriately compensate for the losses caused by the cessation of production and business activities. Among them, the district and county people's governments formulate the compensation standards for economic losses of houses that have been expropriated and demolished; the township (minority township) and town people's governments formulate the compensation standards for economic losses of houses that have been demolished, and the township (minority township) and town people's governments must file with the district and county people's governments.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Measures", the expropriating party should compensate the expropriated persons for the costs of relocation due to the expropriation of houses. The expropriating party should provide relocation subsidies to the expropriated persons.

Among them, the district and county people's governments stipulate the relocation subsidies for land acquisition and demolition of houses; the township (minority township) and town people's governments stipulate the relocation subsidies for land acquisition and demolition of houses, and they must be filed with the district and county people's governments.

As can be seen from the above, monetary compensation, resettlement housing compensation and separate approval of homestead sites are the three main ways to compensate and resettlement owners of houses on expropriated and demolished collective land.

For those whose leases have expired before expropriation and demolition

Regardless of whether you rent a residential building or a business building, as long as the lease agreement has expired before the expropriation and relocation period, the expropriation and demolition will not affect the actual rights of the lessee, because the lessee only needs to move out and hand over the house according to the expiry date specified in the agreement. Therefore, when the lease has expired, there is no relevant law as a basis for the lessee to claim compensation rights for demolition.

For those whose leases have not expired at the time of demolition and demolition

If the signed lease contract contains provisions that stipulate that the landlord needs to terminate the lease contract with the tenant in advance due to house expropriation and demolition, the terms in the contract shall be followed. If the signed contract does not provide for terminating the lease in advance due to house expropriation and demolition, the lessee can negotiate with the landlord to agree. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement in the negotiation, the lessee can protect its legitimate rights and interests through legal means such as litigation.

If the contract signed by both parties to the lease does not stipulate on the issue of expropriation and demolition, and the tenant voluntarily gives up the relevant compensation rights, the lessee of the leased residential house can require the landlord to pay compensation for relocation fees and resettlement subsidies;

For tenants leasing commercial properties, they can also require the landlord to pay for the renovation costs they originally invested, as well as compensation for losses caused by the cessation of business activities and relocation compensation, etc. If the landlord chooses resettlement housing as compensation for the tenant, the tenant can re-sign a housing lease contract with the landlord after the landlord completes the property rights replacement.

Concealing the fact that the house is about to be expropriated and demolished and still renting out the house after the land acquisition has been approved and notified

According to the relevant provisions of the Contract Law, a tenant who commits contract fraud against a lessor can request a court or arbitration institution to modify or cancel the contract in accordance with the law, and require the landlord to compensate the tenant for the resulting losses.

All in all, when a rental house is expropriated and demolished, the lessee has no right to demand a share of the compensation for the demolished house. However, the lessee can, on the basis of the contract, require the lessor to make corresponding compensation or compensation for the impact of land acquisition, demolition and contract changes on its rights.Therefore, both parties to the lease must clarify the relevant terms when signing a lease contract.

In addition to the above private housing rentals, there are also public rental housing (public housing directly managed by the government and self-managed public housing by units) due to historical and policy reasons. Although the tenant is not the owner of the house, he actually enjoys property rights similar to those of the owner of the house. When public housing is expropriated and demolished, public housing tenants shall enjoy the rights of the expropriated person to receive compensation and resettlement, as well as the corresponding opinions, statements, rights to be present and to participate in hearings, etc.

In short, there is no relevant law as a basis for a tenant to request an equal split of the demolition payment with the landlord. The lessee only enjoys the right to use the rented private house based on the lease relationship. Only when the actual rights are affected and infringed can the lessee demand compensation or compensation from the lessor based on the lease contract and relevant legal provisions.

Both parties to the lease have their own bottom line rights. Remember to negotiate and resolve disputes without touching the bottom lines of both parties. If one party's unreasonable demands touch the other party's bottom line, the rights and interests victims of the infringement can protect their rights through legal channels with the help of a professional demolition lawyer.