Chinese couples in rush to divorce so they are allowed to build bigger houses

Hundreds of happy couples have swamped divorce officials in China after a new housing policy meant they could double the size of their homes by splitting up.

Under the new build scheme in Guiyang, Guizhou province, southern China, single people are entitled to one building plot each while married couples get just one. Now officials say more than five hundred couples have filed for quickie divorces so they can get two plots instead of one.



"Me and my husband are very happy. But all of our neighbours, all of our friends and all of our family have divorced so what can we do?" said newly single Guo Chaoqing, 65.

"If my wife, I, our son and his daughter all get divorced we'll get four plots. We can't get left behind," he added. Local registrar Liu Weng admitted: "Something has gone very wrong with this policy. People are taking advantage of a loophole."