Homeowners’ rights to be protected: Shanghai govt

The Shanghai municipal government vowed on Monday to protect the legitimate rights of homebuyers by allowing them to cancel their home purchase contract, after hundreds of demonstrators took to streets on Saturday to protest the recent changes in housing regulations.

Some developers distorted the government policy, delayed rectification and set barriers to homebuyers who wanted to cancel their home purchase contracts, as the city moved to clean up and rectify commercial office buildings, the Shanghai municipal government said in a statement published on its WeChat account on Monday.

The municipal housing bureau and other relevant departments reiterated that the targeted projects for rectification are illegal commercial office projects and related matters, the statement said.

To protect homebuyers’ legal rights, the municipal housing bureau supports homebuyers who protect their legal rights and homebuyers who have filed home purchase contracts online but want to cancel them. The developer should cooperate, it said.

For homebuyers who wish to proceed with the contract, the apartments they purchased can be put into use, it said.

The statement comes after hundreds of protesters on Saturday took to streets to protest a new rule which restricts people from living in residential buildings converted from commercial premises.

Authorities in Shanghai issued the rules on May 17 to curb property speculations.