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Shenzhen is formulating a three-year action plan for installing elevators in old residential buildings, and plans to introduce a series of supporting rules related to the plan, the city’s housing and construction bureau disclosed.

The city will pilot the installation project in residential estates such as Yitiancun and Lianhuabeicun in Futian District, as residents in these estates have expressed a strong desire for the elevators.

In recent years, the call for adding elevators to old residential buildings has been getting stronger, prompting the city to issue relevant policies to solve the problem.

According to statistics, there are more than 1,500 old residential estates with more than 12,000 residential buildings in Shenzhen. As of April this year, a total of 178 residential buildings had applied for the installation of elevators, of which 162 buildings have been given permission and 93 buildings have already installed elevators.

But the set of data failed to satisfy Xiao Youmei, a deputy to the Municipal People’s Congress. Xiao believed that the project must be accelerated in order to meet the demands of residents living in old residential buildings.

Xiao analyzed that the high threshold of application, complicated application procedures and difficulty in raising funds are all obstacles. She suggested that relevant regulations on the installation of elevators should be improved as soon as possible, the procedures be simplified and the approval be fast-tracked.

According to the preliminary plan, Shenzhen will set up a district-level special working group to guide and supervise elevator installation in subdistricts of each district.

In terms of the cost of elevator installation, the bureau said that homeowners in the same building can negotiate and determine the proportion of each household’s contribution on their own. The city’s three-year action plan will clarify the amount of financial subsidies to reduce the financial burden of residents.

The city will also set up district-level elevator service centers to provide one-stop service for the installation of elevators in old residential buildings.