Contents
Thousands of homes have been sold in China but not completed. Those affected are correspondingly upset.
Dozens of half-finished apartment buildings and tower blocks stand abandoned on the outskirts of Shanghai. Only a richly decorated flat roof building is finished. The former sales pavilion with gold-decorated wallpaper and heavy furniture is eerily empty. But in the main hall, six pensioners are having lively discussions.
Legend:
A noble development with schools, shopping facilities and public transport connections in the city center of Shanghai was planned.
SRF/Samuel Emch
The retirees have been fighting for the completion of their apartments in this development for three years. A former teacher says: “We want our apartments. Many owners died before they got their properties.”
2800 families – around 10,000 people – should live here since summer 2020. But the real estate developer ran out of money before the first families could move in. The company itself blocks any contact. The authorities are not giving any information either.
Industry flourished for decades
Like the retired, many Chinese have invested their hard savings in apartments and houses. Around 70 percent of wealth in China was invested in real estate. It was a seemingly safe investment. The industry flourished for decades. It was massively built, prices rose constantly.
But two problems led to the crisis: speculation and debt. “Real estate companies in particular have become increasingly indebted,” says Hang Seng Bank’s chief economist, Dan Wang. “The government saw that this was not sustainable. As a first step, she made debt regulations for the real estate companies. They must have sufficient liquid funds and must not simply finance themselves with debt. That led to the situation we have today.”
Legend:
As with countless construction projects in China, the real estate developer ran out of money. Construction stopped.
SRF/Samuel Emch
Consolidation is necessary, but the government has acted prematurely, Wang said. And so the pensioners, like thousands of others, are still waiting for their own home. They counted themselves among the lucky ones, says the teacher. The demand for the apartments was so great that there was a lottery to draw buyers.
Everything well planned
He leads with a retired chauffeur into a high hall where the walls have already started to mold. A large model of the development is set up in the middle: clinic, shopping facilities, school, direct public transport connection to the center of Shanghai. Everything carefully planned: «This project, we love it and we hate it. Damn, we’ve been waiting so long. But it just looks nice,” says the former chauffeur.
Legend:
Since the summer of 2020, 2,800 families have been waiting for their apartments to be completed in this development alone.
SRF/Samuel Emch
He sold his dilapidated 40 square meter apartment in central Shanghai. That was enough for an apartment three times the size here. But now he lives in a shabby room for rent. The retirees still hope to be able to move into their apartments one day. “There have been various efforts at all levels of government. These measures are aimed at real estate companies whose liquidity is at risk. They are specially designed for projects that are under construction. Because the bottom line is that social stability is the most important thing. The last thing the government wants is some kind of social protest.”
The retirees, who meet daily in the former sales pavilion, now see workers coming to the construction site again. They say goodbye: “If the government doesn’t stand up for us, we’ll just die. The government should stand up for us.”