Hey there everyone,

Done some searching on the forum archives, didn't find an answer to my situation so thought I'd throw it out there.

I've been living in Shanghai for 6 years, and have owned and lived in my apartment here for 4 years and occasionally rented out a room to foreign friends with a proper contract between myself and the renter that they've used to register with the PSB. No problems there.

Recently under the stricter rules of foreigners owning apartments in Shanghai, foreigners who own apartments are not allowed to rent it out (as it must be for personal residence).

So my question to others who have been in a similar situation:


- is there a legal way for foreigners who own apartments to rent to people?

- if you have a friend staying with you for an extended period of time--say for a few months or more, what documentation do you provide to the PSB? Do you simply accompany your friend and say that they'll reside there as non-renters and show passport and property deeds? Do you just write a letter saying that this person is your friend and staying with you?

My thinking at this point is to have my newest renter to register with the PSB as a "friend" of mine staying long-term and the housing contract for rental simply stays between the two of us.

Anyone else with a similar experience to share? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've never had problems. Just let the tenant take his personal documentation and a copy of the rental agreement to the PSB to register. They may ask for a copy of the deed and / or your passport.

It seems to me if you are living there also it is a personal residence.. even if you are renting it out. I doubt it would be a big deal with one unit.

The logic behind the law is that they want investors and speculators ( who happen to be foreigners, also ) and who plan to rents units or own more than one unit..to register a real estate company and pay tax on the transactions. Theoretically, you should be paying tax on that income. However, renting out a room in an apartment that you also live in si too small a deal to get on anyones radar unless you have done something else to get them riled up.

underh20 wrote:I've never had problems. Just let the tenant take his personal documentation and a copy of the rental agreement to the PSB to register. They may ask for a copy of the deed and / or your passport.

Actually had that new renter go today with rental agreement in hand and they said they needed copy of the deed/my passport but that I also needed a permit to rent to foreigners. I'm okay with providing personal documentation, but the permit to rent to foreigners thing is new and hopefully was a mistake in translation.

Will go inquire about it the next few days and post up if there's any new procedure worth mentioning.

xiaolihai wrote:

underh20 wrote:I've never had problems. Just let the tenant take his personal documentation and a copy of the rental agreement to the PSB to register. They may ask for a copy of the deed and / or your passport.

Actually had that new renter go today with rental agreement in hand and they said they needed copy of the deed/my passport but that I also needed a permit to rent to foreigners. I'm okay with providing personal documentation, but the permit to rent to foreigners thing is new and hopefully was a mistake in translation.

Will go inquire about it the next few days and post up if there's any new procedure worth mentioning.

Never heard of a permit to rent to foreigners. It must be a translation issue.