A man books a flat for ₹ 16.5 lakh on the 34th floor of a 32-storey building; social media react

A Chinese man bought an apartment on the 34th floor of a new building. Four years later, he discovered that the building had only 32 floors.

The man surnamed Shen is from Shaanxi Province in northwest China. In 2013, he bought a 90 square meter unit in a village near Xian.

He paid 2,646 yuan ( ₹37,234*) per square meter, which is about a third of average local prices, according to the South China Morning Post. The discount existed because ownership rights to the apartment were limited.

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Restricted property rights is an informal term in China for gray market housing. Such properties are built illegally on communally owned rural land. They cannot be resold and have no legal protection. Buyers accept these risks because prices are significantly lower, SCMP said.

Shen paid an initial deposit of 117,700 yuan ( ₹16.5 lakh*) to the developer in 2013. The developer assured him that the necessary certificates would follow.

In practice, illegal properties cannot legally obtain these certificates. The signed contract promised to deliver the apartment by 2015.

Shen returned to his job in Beijing and waited. The construction was not completed on the agreed date. In 2017, the developer contacted him with a request for the remaining payment. Shen said he would pay when he received the keys.

Months later, the developer brought unexpected news. The building where his apartment was located had only 32 floors. They initially offered him an apartment on the 32nd floor as a replacement.

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Shen could not pay the amount owed at that time. Two months later, he was informed that the apartment on the 32nd floor was no longer available.

Shen asked for a refund. The developer claimed he had no funds and asked him to wait. In 2020, they returned 20,000 yuan ( ₹2.81 million*). In 2022, they paid another 50,000 yuan ( ₹7 million*). After that, they stopped responding to his calls altogether.

Shen requested arbitration through the Xian authorities. The arbitration commission found him right. The developer was ordered to repay the remaining 47,700 yuan ( ₹6.71 lakh) from his deposit plus 27,000 yuan ( ₹3.80 lakh) in interest. The decision also imposed an additional penalty of 47,000 yuan ( ₹6.61 lakh) if the developer fails to comply.

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As of May this year, Shen still hasn’t received the money. He handled the matter through the local court. The court issued a consumption restriction order against the developer. However, the developer had no savings or registered assets to his name. Enforcement remained impossible.

Reaction on social networks

The case has attracted considerable attention on Chinese social media. Many users have highlighted the dangers of buying real estate on the gray market.

“Restricted apartments are cheap but have many problems. The man is unlucky but there is no way to help him,” SCMP quoted one user as saying.

“I would need to spend the same amount on renting an apartment and I won’t own my apartment in ten years anyway,” another user commented.

*INR conversions are in accordance with today’s exchange rate