To use the maintenance fund, two-thirds of the owners must agree unanimously. Maintenancefund, also known as "house maintenance fund" and "house special maintenance fund", refers to the funds that the owners of residential properties pay a certain amount of money to a special account for the maintenance of public parts and facilities in the property area and authorize the property service enterprises or other management units to use. Housing maintenance fund actually includes housing public facilities special fund and housing maintenance fund.

China's housing maintenance fund system began in 1998. In 2004, the housing maintenance fund evolved into a fee that must be paid for housing property certificates. Its payment standard has also changed from the initial "2%-3% of the purchase price" to "5%-8% of the cost per square meter of residential construction and installation projects" in 2008. According to the newly revised Measures for the Administration of Special Maintenance Funds for Residential Buildings in 2007, public maintenance funds are earmarked for the maintenance of public facilities in residential quarters and are owned by all owners. But before the establishment of the owners' committee, the funds were generally managed by the real estate administrative department.

Under what circumstances can the housing maintenance fund be used?

The housing maintenance fund is used for large and medium-sized repair and renovation projects of the main structure, public parts and public facilities and equipment of the house after the warranty period expires.

The main load-bearing structures of houses include foundation, internal and external load-bearing walls, columns, beams, floors and roofs. Public parts refer to outdoor walls, hallways, stairwells, corridors, etc. Public facilities and equipment refer to water supply and drainage pipelines and equipment, distribution cables and equipment, elevators, public lighting, fire-fighting facilities, green spaces, roads, ditches, non-operating parking garages, public cultural and sports facilities and other facilities and equipment owned and used by the owner. The maintenance fund is managed by the Housing Authority, and the application process is complicated.

Open a housing maintenance fund

In 2007, the Measures for the Administration of Special Maintenance Funds for Residential Buildings stipulated that special maintenance funds for residential buildings should be applied to load-bearing walls, roofs, staircases and elevators. However, the "Measures" stipulate that if the maintenance fund is to be used, it must follow the "double two-thirds special majority principle", that is, the owners who account for more than two-thirds of the total construction area and more than two-thirds of the total number of people discuss and pass the use plan.