Rain exposes shoddy work at new apartments

Residents of a newly built government-subsidized residential compound in Fengtai district complained to the Global Times about the poor quality of their homes on Wednesday.

Tongxin Jiayuan, an affordable housing project with space for 3,000 households, was revealed to have grave quality defects, such as water leaks, sinkholes and hollow bricks. Residents appealed for government aid to solve the problems.

"Every rainstorm hitting Beijing is a test for our building. After the heavy rain on July 21 and 27, my apartment had many serious flaws," said a resident, surnamed Cao, on Wednesday. She received the key to her apartment on July 11.

The Global Times found there were several sinkholes on the sidewalks in the community filled with rain water, and the unpaved roads were uneven.

Pointing at a large crack and a sinkhole apparent at the foot of a building, Cao said that she feared the building might collapse one day.

Cao also claimed the decorators she employed said it is hard to install an extractor hood in her kitchen, since the wall is too hollow to bear the weight.

A man who was decorating an apartment in building No.9, claimed the building was constructed with hollow bricks, including on load-bearing walls.

"We spent almost all our savings and waited for two years to buy this apartment, but now we are disturbed by it. It's brought us a lot of trouble," said Cao.

It can take up to two years for applicants to buy an affordable house.

The property management company, Beijing Capital Development Holding Group, has received complaints from half of the 800 households who have so far moved in, said the on-site manager, surnamed Sui. 

However, Lang Ping, manager of the Tongxin Jiayuan project for Beijing Capital Group, said that the project has passed a government inspection, which means that there is no problem with the quality.

"We can ensure those buildings were built with no quality problems, but residents can report to us if they find any problems," Lang said.

Many government-subsidized housing projects aimed at low income families have been revealed to have quality flaws. Six half-constructed buildings in Mingyuewan community in Daxing district were demolished in 2010 because the cement used was substandard, the Beijing News reported.

Hui Jianqiang, a property researcher at the E-house China Research and Development Institute, attributed the poor quality of the projects to low prices and inadequate supervision.

"The house price is lower than the market price, but the land price is high, so the developer may use shoddy materials in order to save costs," he said.