Home building by amateur individuals a throwback?
(Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2005-03-02 17:09

Three young people plan to collect money and build houses by themselves. To realize this dream, two of them have quit their jobs, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

At the end of November 2004, 28-year-old Zhu Jian set up a seminar on a website to look for people who were interested in building a house for themselves.

A 27-year-old IT worker, Ying Rongjun and another man Guo Yuxin, were drawn to the idea and the three people got together.

Their dream was very simple: call on about 500 netizens to collect a sum of money from each, then buy a suitable piece of land and build houses for the contributors, at a cost lower than that in the present real estate market.

"I would prefer to create a chance for myself rather than to shoulder a loan for 20 or even 30 years just to buy a house," Guo said. "If you try, there is at least an opportunity for success."

They had not expected their dream to attract so much attention. Some have supported the idea while others have even called them swindlers.

"To tell you the truth, we felt it would be difficult at first because of our limited knowledge," Guo said. "With more and more participation from professionals, we have become clearer about the future."

Since last December, their seminar has gained over 800 registered members, including professionals from the fields of construction, administration, law and finance.

At first, the three people wanted to buy land individually. But they found it rather difficult negotiating with banks and the government.

Now they plan to set up a consulting company to deal with the preparations, then set up a real estate company.

On February 19, the three people had a meeting with four netizens and a lawyer to talk about the regulations for the consulting company.

They plan to set up a schedule group, a financing group and a law group. Each group already has members.

Zhu Jian said he is now a "boss" who can't pay anyone. In addition, he is not sure if the plan will succeed or not.

In 2003, Shanghai saw a similar idea.

In April of that year an overseas student named Weng Yun called on netizens to buy land and build houses together.

By the end of July 2003, they had collected about US$1 million. According to their report, the land would be located in the Jing'an Temple area, with the price of building the house estimated at

5,691 yuan (US$688) per square metre. The scheme ended because the government didn't support them over tax and land issues.

The Nanjing Morning Post reported that the Ministry of Construction had released a notice on real estate departments in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu of Sichuan Province, Nanjing of Jiangsu Province and Xiamen of Fujian Province, asking these cities to report on such situations.

According to an official with the ministry, they have already begun paying attention to possible legal complications.