Luxury property became a ‘scam’

A group of Macau homebuyers in Zhuhai are seeking help from the MSAR government for what they consider to be a fraudulent development plan of a high-end property, called Hills Beyond Sea in Zhuhai.
About 200 Macau residents, who bought properties in Hills Beyond Sea, signed a petition letter, complaining about the “false promotional plan on the property they bought”.
Mark Ma, one of the residents in Hills Beyond Sea, also the representative of the Macau residents group, accompanied with legislator José Pereira Coutinho, yesterday submitted a petition letter signed by about 80 Macau homebuyers to the Government Headquarters office, requesting assistance. They claim to have been deceived by Zhuhai property developers, Pan Yue Fang Estate Development Ltd.
In the letter, the buyers urge the government to intervene by enhancing consumer rights for Macau residents in Zhuhai.
Fraud, they say
The Hills Beyond Sea property was first promoted in 2013 as a high-end villa and apartment building by property developer Hongtai group and Pan Yue Fang Estate Development Ltd. in Doumen, a district of Zhuhai city.
It stated the villa complex would be built with luxurious facilities with 2,000-square-meter villas, private gardens, occupying an area of 150,000 square meters, and high-quality services for property management, etc.
However, after construction was completed in December 2014, the property residents found out that all the facilities and services mentioned in the development plan “were not provided at all”. And in fact, some part of the land at Hills Beyond Sea “does not even belong to the property developer,” they accuse.
In addition, the property developer offered the buyers the “most expensive price for the property in the district in Zhuhai,” when it “is not worth the high price,” the group complains. One square meter in the property cost about RMB10,000 (US$1,522), the highest selling price in that district.
In the end, the residents found out that a kindergarten is currently being built in the same location where some promised property facilities should have been built according to the development plan.
“The kindergarten was actually granted by the Zhuhai government before, but the property developer did not mention it at all in the development plan, so they told us there would be facilities built for the residents to use,” Mr. Ma explained to Business Daily.
With the school under construction, the only entrance to and from the property is now blocked, they say. “It is hard for the residents to get in and out of the property,” Mr. Ma told Business Daily, explaining that they were promised two entrances to the property, a requirement by the Zhuhai government. “The kindergarten is a private entity, and if the owner of the school decided not to allow us to walk past to go into and out of the property, then we basically have no walking path to go home,” Mr. Ma stressed.
Furthermore, the residents suspected that the property developer probably sold some part of the land to other developers to build the school there.
More problems occurring
The so-called luxurious property has other problems that need to be fixed, such as water leakages Mr. Ma told this newspaper.
As if this wasn’t enough, the buyers also complain that they later found out that the property builder had increased the price of car parking spaces to RMB150,000, making limited car parking spaces available for the residents. “The original development plan stated that there would be a total of 888 car parking spaces, but in fact only 380 car parking spaces exist,” Mr. Ma told Business Daily. And “there is only one security guard currently taking care of the whole property,” he explains.
Trying to seek help
About 200 units were sold to Macau residents, accounting for about 25 per cent of the total residents at Hills Beyond Sea, including some 120 units that were bought by Macau residents for investment purposes. The entire property contains about 900 units in total.
The residents have all reached out to the Zhuhai government and different departments of the government, including the property developer, for help since August last year. However, the property problems continue.
“Some of the residents even sold their properties in Macau in order to buy a unit in Zhuhai, but they are now facing the uncertainty of not having a home to live in, both in Macau and Zhuhai”.
Customer rights should be strengthened
Consumer rights needs to be enforced and strengthened in Zhuhai, says legislator Pereira Coutinho. “The property buyers have no protection, therefore, we need to enhance the relevant regulations and enforce the law accordingly. There are about 100,000 Macau residents crossing the border every day,” he said to reporters.
The legislator suggested the SAR government should have a meeting with the Zhuhai government to discuss a way to improve buyers’ rights in Zhuhai.
‘For the past few years, we have received some complaints about buying properties in Mainland China, and the Chinese government has closely regulated the property market, especially with off-plan buying, however, not like this case, which involves about 200 units brought by Macau residents,” the legislator said.