5.1.2. 1972–1990: Period of "Unified Planning" of Homesteads

The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee was held in 1978, and the state established a policy of reform and opening up. With the deepening of reforms and opening up and the rapid advances in the marketisation of land, there has been a boom in housing construction in rural areas, and social problems such as speculation in homesteads and the erosion of cultivated land in rural areas have become increasingly serious. Against this background, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Land Use for Villages and Towns in 1982 [54], which for the first time stipulated a standard area for each household when applying for the right to use the homestead. On this basis, the 1986 Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China [55] made more detailed regulations on the basis of the Regulations on the Administration of Land for Villages and Towns Construction, clearly restricting the occupation of farmland by homesteads. The main feature of this period was the disorderly expansion and controlled adjustment of the total number of homesteads. After the housing boom in rural China, the state intervened in the management of homesteads in a timely manner, and the homestead system was gradually standardised during this period.

#### 5.1.3. 1990–2000: Period of "Paid Use" of Homesteads

In 1990, the Request for Instructions on Strengthening the Management of Homesteads in Rural Areas [57] first proposed a pilot program for the paid use of homesteads (that is, charging an appropriate amount of fees for homesteads). In 1991, the Regulations for the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China [58] pointed out that the state manages the legal use of homestead and punishes illegal acts. In 1995, Several Regulations on Determining Land Ownership and Use Rights [59], stipulations were made regarding the problem of exceeding the standard amount of land occupied by residents for building houses. Since then, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have issued a notice that the residential construction of rural residents must conform to the village and town construction plan and implement the policy of one house for one household. The state strengthened the management of homesteads during this period, laying the foundation for the subsequent reform of the homestead system.

#### 5.1.4. 2000–2010: Period of "Connecting Increase and Decrease" of Homesteads

After 2000, the central and local governments conducted a large-scale theoretical and practical exploration of the reforms of the homestead system. In 2004, the Decision of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Strict Land Management [63] encouraged the consolidation of rural construction land and suggested that an increase in urban construction land should be connected to a reduction in rural construction land. In 2008, the Notice of the State Council on Promoting Economised and Intensive Land Use [66] mentioned that the local government may give incentives or subsidies to villagers who voluntarily vacated their homesteads. Since then, China has stressed the formation of a new

pattern of urban and rural economic and social development and integration for the future, and various localities have also intensified the consolidation of rural residential land. The main feature of the reform and exploration period is the reform of the homestead system and the exploration of the exit mechanism for homesteads. The state has also instituted many incentives to encourage farmers to vacate excess homesteads. In addition, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee proposed building a new socialist countryside, and the implementation of this major strategic measure also provided strong policy support for land use in rural settlements.

#### 5.1.5. 2010–Present: Period of "Separation of Three Rights" of Homesteads

In 2013, the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform [67] emphasised that it was necessary to improve the existing pilot projects connecting the increase and decrease of urban and rural construction land. In 2018, the No. 1 Central Document Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the Implementation of the Rural Revitalisation Strategy [69] proposed the "separation of three rights" of homestead ownership, contract rights, and management rights. In 2019, the Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Rural Homesteads [70] noted that village collectives and farmers should be encouraged to use idle homesteads and houses. In recent years, China has further explored the pilot reform of the rural homestead system, focusing on exploring the "separation of three rights" of homesteads. In the future, under the guidance of the rural revitalisation strategy, the reform of the rural homestead system should make greater breakthroughs in controlling the scale of rural settlements and sorting out rural settlements.
