Amid a stagnating real estate market and growing social tensions, China has turned to a new instrument: housing coupons. These official documents are intended to help expropriated households, for example, due to demolition projects as part of urban development, to acquire a new home – and reduce surplus properties. The megacity of Shenzhen also introduced the system in late March. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou had already followed suit. This means that all first-tier cities are now applying the model, which is set to become a key strategy.