(Yicai) Nov. 27 -- Leading Chinese technology companies have unveiled plans to build more long-term rental homes to provide young employees with accommodations that are suitable in terms of living conditions and rent, but this has affected local rental housing markets to some extent.

Meituan, the largest on-demand delivery service provider in China, will build more "apartments for its delivery riders" nationwide, the Beijing-based firm announced last week. The company will offer subsidies to workers who rent such homes to ensure the cost is lower than the market level, it pointed out.

Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi, JD.Com, Tencent Holdings, and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications have also started offering homes for rent to employees this year.

High rent and long commuting time are the main concerns for young people when they join companies in first-tier cities, according to a report by EH Consulting. Big firms can gain an advantageous position in the fierce talent competition by building houses for employees.

Huawei opened its new apartment complex in Shanghai's Zhujiajiao Water Town earlier this year. The project is a super-large high-end talent community with a construction area of 850,000 square meters and 5,584 housing units, the company noted, adding that its so-called talent homes in the city can meet the accommodation needs of over 17,000 employees.

Although the number of homes provided by big companies is limited, they still absorb tenants that would otherwise enter local rental housing markets, causing pressure on existing rental companies, a report from Mingyuan Real Estate Research Institute said.

Huawei's business in Zhujiajiao had lifted the price of rental housing in the area to CNY2.24 (32 US cents) per sqm a day last year, but after the opening of its apartment complex, the price dropped to CNY2.13 last month.

"Fortunately, the number of such homes is limited, and so is the period of low rent offered by many companies," according to the report by Mingyuan Real Estate. "Many workers will eventually return to the rental housing market."

Big firms have mature operation platforms and data analysis systems that can grasp the demands and preferences of tenants in real time and have the ability to maintain the high stickiness of tenants through targeted actions, the report said, adding that traditional long-term rental housing operators should learn from this new operation method.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev