‘Best landlord’: woman in China praises property owner for offering 20 per cent rent rebate every month so she can buy ‘nice food’ for her children

The woman left southwestern China’s Guizhou province to work in Zhejiang, becoming one of China’s 295 million migrant workers who move from rural villages to big cities to find work opportunities.

Rental costs can be the biggest challenge migrant workers face, as rooms in tier-1 or tier-2 cities typically cost 1,000 to 3,000 yuan (US$140 to US$420) per month. Those prices can represent a significant chunk of the migrant worker’s paycheck, whose average monthly salary was 4,615 yuan (US$645) in 2022.

Yang’s generous landlord moved mainland Chinese social media, prompting many to share their own heartwarming stories of their landlords.

“This landlord set the rental to 1,000 yuan a month to keep the market stable but gave her a rebate because he is a great person,” commented one person.

Another commenter from Zhejiang said: “When I was ill last winter, my landlord took me to hospital and only left after my family came. He also waived my rent for a month.”

In March, a tenant in eastern China’s Anhui province said her landlord had introduced her to a new job so she could keep renting his apartment after she resigned from her previous position.

She told Chinese media outlet Jiupai News the landlord’s offer made her believe that “the world is kind”.