The government lowered the economic threshold of families to apply for affordable housing projects, expanding them to cover larger group of residents in need in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

The city government has increased the average monthly income of low-income families’ member from 1,369 yuan to 1,536 yuan since July and if the average monthly income of a member is lower than 1,920 yuan instead of 1,711, they will be classed as the lower middle income family.

The increase of cap income for families, about 12 percent higher than before, expands the coverage, and allow more residents in need to have qualification to apply for subsidized housing units.

A resident only revealing his surname as Guo asked for more information on application for the affordable housing units from the district office, saying before the changes in July, his family was out of the target group because of a little higher income.

His family of three has lived with his senior parents, making them quite crave for low-rent houses if possible.

The city housing bureau said the next batch of public rental houses will be open to distribute in October.

The bureau adjusted the economic threshold based on the statistics of per capita disposable income in 2012, which increased to 23,038 yuan. According to the current regulation on classifying low-income families, their average income should be 80 percent of the disposable income.