Can You Buy a Rural Homestead Courtyard?

Developers first lease land from the village, then sign long-term lease agreements with homebuyers on a lease-to-own basis (typically 5 to 30 years), build houses on it, and sell those houses to buyers. Because these properties lack any legal paperwork, they are technically farm sheds masquerading as residences—illegal structures built on agricultural land.

Protecting arable land is a fundamental national policy in China, and land sale revenue is a major income source for local governments. From the perspective of safeguarding farmland and government revenue, the Ministry of Land and Resources conducts regular aerial surveys; once such sheds are detected, they are typically demolished forcibly.

As for rural homesteads, the law prohibits their sale, and after registration and property rights confirmation were completed, transferring ownership became virtually impossible. In the event of forced demolition, any compensation has no bearing on the homebuyer.