The Chinese real estate industry with focus on the role of the developer in the development, sale and initial management of condomonium schemes

In the early 1980’s, the Chinese government launched the nationwide housing and land reform programme to tackle almost insurmountable problems in providing residential housing for its citizens and adequate business facilities to facilitate sustainable economic growth. Real estate developers play a significant role in the reform process. The object of this thesis is to identify the problems encountered under Chinese legislation with regard to controlling the activities of developers and suggest solutions. Chinese legislative provisions are compared with the provisions of the sophisticated American Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and well-developed South African Sectional Titles Act. The first part of the thesis focuses on the complicated housing and land reform process in China. The major part of the thesis focuses on the role of developers in the development, sale and initial management of the condominium scheme. Topics discussed include the role of developers in the establishment of condominium schemes, allocation of parking spaces and the management of condominium schemes during the initial period. Consumer protection against abuses of power on the part of developers, especially regarding the sale of condominiums in a building which is still under construction is another key focus. The author finds that under current Chinese law, the developer is neither provided with sufficient flexibility nor controlled adequately by pertinent legislation. The most important shortcoming is that developers are not empowered to draft constitutive documents to suit the needs of their particular schemes. Lack of a constitutive document creates disputes among developers, management agencies and unit owners over various issues, such as the boundaries between exclusive units and common areas and their individual rights and obligations. Allowing developers to draft and register the constitutive documents would not only bind the three parties to the provision of constitutive documents but provide more flexibility to the developer. The automatic establishment of an owners’ association after the first unit is transferred will create a channel for communication among the three parties and reduce further friction amongst them.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo