Yinchuan City "One Case, One File" to Resolve Difficulties in Rural House Rights Confirmation

This article is reprinted from: Ningxia Daily

Completed on-site investigations in more than 50 villages, issued 150 residential land use rights certificates

Yinchuan City’s “One Case, One File” approach to resolving difficulties in rural housing rights confirmation

This newspaper report (Ningxia Daily Media Group all-media reporter Wang Ruoying): “My family moved here from Xiji County in 2002, and for a long time, we couldn’t get a property rights certificate because the residential land hadn’t been approved. Now that the certificate has been issued, I finally feel at ease.” Recently, Jia Siwen, a villager from Fengdeng Town and Feng Village in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, said. In the past, his house was considered a dangerous building and could not be legally confirmed for rights for a long time. After completing the renovation of the dangerous house, staff provided door-to-door service and full guidance, helping him resolve a “heart problem” that had persisted for over 20 years.

On April 3, the Yinchuan City Natural Resources Bureau was informed that the bureau has incorporated the “Ongoing resolution of historical issues related to villagers’ housing rights confirmation and certification” into its annual key work plan, using pragmatic measures to break through bottlenecks in people’s livelihoods, making the residential land use rights certificates a “reassurance pill” for the public. As of this year, the city has completed on-site investigations in more than 50 villages and issued 150 residential land use rights certificates.

Since January this year, the Yinchuan City Natural Resources Bureau has conducted a survey of the stock of residential land in the three districts under its jurisdiction. Staff members have gone deep into fields and villagers’ homes, working with village and group leaders to confirm boundaries on-site, clarify land ownership, house locations, and other key information, and categorized the data into detailed “One Case, One File” accounts to support subsequent work. Currently, on-site investigations in more than 50 villages, including Datangnan Village, Hefeng Village, and Funing Village, have been successfully completed.

During the survey, staff also collected villagers’ difficulties in rights confirmation. Wei Xuebing, a villager from Funing Village, Huaiyuan Road Street, Xixia District, moved here from Xiji County in 2002. He has been unable to obtain a certificate because his land was not approved. In response to such issues, the bureau identified five types of difficult problems, such as multiple houses on one plot and non-members of the collective economy organization, and coordinated policies with villages, towns, streets, and district natural resources departments to implement targeted measures, flexibly applying relevant policies to properly resolve villagers’ certificate application troubles.

To reduce villagers’ trips, the Yinchuan City Natural Resources Bureau simplified pre-conditions and improved certification efficiency. It optimized the external investigation process for “multiple houses on one plot,” and after villagers submit relevant commitments, relevant departments send verification letters to the original household registration; integrated the original six types of independent approval forms into the “Yinchuan City Rural Residential Land Use Rights Registration Application and Approval Form,” enabling “one form application, joint processing, and completion in one visit,” reducing the cost of handling procedures for the public. Meanwhile, staff members, together with relevant departments and administrative villages, conducted door-to-door publicity, explaining policies and procedures in plain language, guiding villagers to actively cooperate.

A relevant person from the Yinchuan City Natural Resources Bureau stated that for prominent legacy issues such as “unauthorized use of farmland for housing” and “exceeding the area,” detailed disposal measures will be formulated, and disposal paths will be clarified by combining historical remote sensing images and land survey results. At the same time, efforts will be increased to ensure the completion of 500 registration cases by the end of the year, improve the long-term mechanism for rights confirmation and registration, strengthen collaboration with agricultural and rural departments, enhance the standardized management of residential land, and effectively grant villagers more comprehensive property rights, ensuring that livelihood projects are well implemented and detailed.