Residential development in China is regulated project by project and city by city. Land rights, planning, construction, presale permission, supervised sale proceeds, contract filing, completion acceptance, delivery and title registration are separate stages. Start by identifying the project company, parcel, building and unit, the actual construction and approval stage, and whether the matter concerns development compliance, a buyer contract, financing, delivery or title.
Preserve the land and planning record, construction permit, presale permit and approved sale scope, supervised-account details, online filing record, signed contract and supplements, advertisements and model-room evidence, payment trail, mortgage documents, progress reports, delivery notices, inspection records, completion materials, defect notices and registration communications. Verify documents with the competent local housing and natural-resources systems rather than relying solely on sales materials.
Subject to editorial and legal review. Local purchase restrictions, price and presale-fund controls, contract forms, filing systems and delivery rules change frequently. Confirm the rules in force for the city, project and transaction date.
Build a project-stage map
Identify the developer and any project company, land-use right, approved use and term, planning permissions, construction permit, contractors, construction progress, financing and security, presale status, completion acceptance and initial registration. Match every permit to the correct parcel, building, floor and unit. Group marketing names may conceal different legal projects.
Presale permission and approved scope
Commodity housing presales require a presale permit. Check the permit number, holder, buildings and units covered, issue date and any sale restrictions. Under the Supreme People’s Court interpretation, a presale contract concluded without the required permit is generally invalid, subject to the stated cure before litigation. Do not assume contract filing substitutes for a permit or that one building’s permit covers the whole development.
Presale proceeds and project finance
Confirm the designated supervised account and reconcile deposits, instalments, mortgage drawdowns and refunds. Local rules govern collection, release and use of presale funds. For a stalled or distressed project, investigate mortgages, seizures, construction claims, account freezes and restructuring early. Paying outside the designated account may weaken evidential and enforcement protection.
Reservation agreements, deposits and the sale contract
Classify each subscription, reservation or deposit document by substance. Record the conditions for signing the main contract, refund events, disclosure delivered and which party caused negotiations to fail. A preliminary agreement containing the essential sale terms and followed by payment may be treated as the sale contract. Reconcile the official form, negotiated supplements and any terms imposed through the sales system.
Advertising, plans and model rooms
Advertising is usually an invitation to offer, but specific and definite promises about the development or facilities that materially affect contract formation and price may become contractual terms. Archive brochures, web pages, livestreams, messages, renderings, planning displays and model-room specifications with dates and authorship. Compare each promise with approved plans and the executed contract.
Price, eligibility and local housing controls
Check local rules on purchase eligibility, household or residency qualifications, financing, subsidized or allocated housing, resale restrictions, price filing and lottery or allocation procedures. These controls can affect qualification or administration without answering every private-law question. Avoid stating a national answer where a city rule or a specific affordable-housing scheme controls.
Delivery and inspection
Read the contractual delivery conditions and the legally required completion and project materials. A handover notice, key transfer, possession and formal acceptance may have different effects. Inspect the unit and common facilities, record meter readings and unfinished items, and state reservations precisely. Refusal to take possession should be based on a documented legal or contractual ground because risk and charges may shift after a valid delivery notice.
Delay, defects and remedies
Separate delayed delivery from quality defects, area discrepancies, specification changes and missing infrastructure. Preserve the contractual date, extension clauses, notices, actual readiness, causation, mitigation and rental or other loss evidence. Determine whether the remedy is completion or repair, price adjustment, liquidated damages, actual loss, termination, refund or regulatory correction. Apply any agreed cure and notice procedure without allowing a limitation period to expire.
Registration and title delivery
Track initial registration, tax and fee steps, buyer cooperation and the developer’s document-delivery obligations. The sale contract and judicial interpretation address liability for delayed title registration. A buyer seeking termination must separately analyse contractual conditions, statutory rules and the applicable exercise period.
Stalled projects and enforcement
Search court enforcement, insolvency and security records and preserve proof of residential-consumer status, payment destination, possession and any advance-notice registration. The Supreme People’s Court’s 2025 interpretation on execution-objection actions contains specific protection for qualifying commodity-housing consumers and certain purchase-price refund claims. Its elements must be proved; consumer priority should not be assumed from the contract label alone.
Choose the correct route
Civil claims may concern contract validity, performance, delivery, defects, registration, termination, refund and damages. Housing, planning, construction, market-regulation and natural-resources authorities address different administrative questions. Enforcement objection or insolvency procedures may be essential when assets or accounts are frozen. Map the defendant or authority, remedy, jurisdiction, preservation need and deadline for each route.
Working-file checklist
- Developer, project company, parcel, building and unit identifiers.
- Land, planning, construction and presale permissions.
- Approved sale scope and online contract filing.
- Supervised-account and complete payment evidence.
- Reservation, deposit, sale, supplement and mortgage documents.
- Advertisements, plans, model-room and sales representations.
- Construction progress, completion and delivery documents.
- Inspection, defect, repair and loss evidence.
- Initial and buyer-registration status.
- Mortgage, seizure, enforcement and insolvency searches.
- City-specific eligibility, price and housing-policy check.
- Remedy, notice, preservation and deadline map.
Official sources
- Beijing Municipal Government: national Commodity Housing Sales Measures
- Wuhan Housing Authority: Urban Commodity Housing Presale Measures
- Supreme People’s Court: amended interpretation on commodity-housing sale contract disputes
- Supreme People’s Court: 2025 interpretation on execution-objection actions
Law checked: September 11, 2026. Official Chinese texts, permits, local controls and the executed project documents control.
