Shanghai to crack down on rule-breaking developers

SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Municipal Government warned on Thursday, Sept 2 that it would punish developers who violate rules on land hoarding and pre-sales.

The city will "strictly enforce regulations on pre-sales of commercial housing projects", the Shanghai Municipal Housing Support and Building Administration Bureau said in a statement on its website.

The warnings come at a time when property prices in Shanghai continue to climb even after Beijing has urged banks to restrict lending to developers and buyers of multiple homes in a bid to cool the country's red-hot real estate sector.

Chinese authorities cracked down on property speculation earlier this year, raising mortgage down-payments and curbing lending to developers, because it feared that soaring prices could lead to a bubble that might suddenly burst.

Shanghai's municipal government will act against developers who refuse to open for sale housing projects that have already been completed, it said.

Housing projects with a construction area of less than 30,000 square metres must apply for pre-sales approval all at once, it added. — Reuters