In a bid to curb overcrowding in residential buildings, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has prohibited the leasing of properties to large groups of people, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

Effective from Monday, the new policy prohibits homeowners from renovating the interiors of their properties or increasing the number of beds to accommodate more tenants. The housing commission also said that rental properties should not be less than 5 square meters in size and that no room should accommodate more than two tenants.

High rental prices in megacities like Beijing often drive migrant workers to share apartments that have been specially modified to accommodate more people in dorm-like setups in exchange for affordable rents. In 2018, authorities “cleaned up” 1,730 residences housing large groups of people in the capital. The year prior, hundreds of migrants were evicted from their rented homes after 19 people died when an overcrowded two-story building caught fire. (Image: VCG)