Before signing for a new home, check the floor-area discrepancy clause and photograph promises in brochures, adverts and display models
Unless the contract says otherwise, a difference of up to 3% between registered and contractual floor area is settled at the actual area. Above 3%, you may return the home; the developer must refund within 30 days with interest. Specific advertising promises about the development and its facilities that materially affect your purchase can be binding even if omitted from the contract.
No charge. Read the relevant clauses before signing and ta…
China’s housing-ministry rules require contracts priced by floor area to specify how differences between contr…
No charge. Read the relevant clauses before signing and take photos or screenshots.
China’s housing-ministry rules require contracts priced by floor area to specify how differences between contractual and registered area are handled. If the contract is silent, an absolute difference of up to and including 3% is settled at the actual area. Above 3%, you may return the home; the developer must return the money paid, plus interest, within 30 days of your request. If you keep a larger home, you pay for the extra area up to 3%; the developer bears the price of the excess above 3%, but you own it. If the registered area is smaller, the developer refunds the shortfall up to 3% and double the price of the shortfall beyond 3%. For advertising, the Supreme People’s Court says sales adverts and promotional material normally invite negotiations rather than form contractual offers. However, specific and definite statements or promises about housing and related facilities within the development’s planning boundary constitute an offer if they materially affect the decision to contract and the price. They form part of the contract even if not written into it, and breach creates contractual liability.
建设部 (2001). 商品房销售管理办法（建设部令第 88 号，第十八、十九、二十条）. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2002/content_70143.htm；最高人民法院 (2020 修正). 关于审理商品房买卖合同纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释（第三条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/282621.html
Open source linkThe 3% rule is the default only where the contract makes no provision. Otherwise the contract governs, so check whether it broadens the tolerance. For an off-plan home priced per unit, the contract must include a floor plan with dimensions and permitted discrepancies. The advertising rule covers housing and facilities within the development’s planning boundary, not things outside it. The old floor-area provision was deleted from the Supreme People’s Court interpretation in 2020; the current cited basis is the housing-ministry regulation. If the developer refuses, you must sue. Ordinary first-instance proceedings must be concluded within 6 months under the rules, with extensions permitted; you usually pay your own lawyer.