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Updated Monday, July 26, 2010 9:19 am TWN, The China Post news staff and CNA

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Gov't seeking compromise on buildings rule

The land registration office, on the other hand, allows property owners to register the size of the building inclusive of the awing areas.

This has led builders to add as many big awnings as possible to their designs to include the extra areas in the overall price of the property.

When they became aware of the controversy, Cheng and another Control Yuan member, Liu Yu-shang, ordered the MOI to sort out the problem, so that consumers would not be given a bad deal. Cheng formerly headed the nation's Consumers Foundation.

At the time, Premier Wu was reported to support the proposal, saying that builders were “behaving like bandits” to sell eaves and awnings as floorspace at a price of up to NT$600,000 (US$18,702) per ping (3.36 square meters) in downtown Taipei.

However, local builders have continued lobbying hard against the MOI's plan to exclude eaves and awnings from the size of houses.

Premier Wu has reportedly made a concession by agreeing that a reasonable area of awnings could be counted as floor space when he met with executives of the realty development industry last week.

Ownership

Wang Kuang-hsiang, head of the National Association of Constructors and Land Developers, admitted that he pleaded with Premier Wu in person last Wednesday for a reversal of the MOI's plan on the grounds that it would hurt home owners.

“Under the ministry's plan, the 8.7 million home owners in the country would see the ownership of floor area of their houses downsized,” Wang argued.

However, the premier's alleged U-turn on the issue has drawn fire from consumer protection activists.

Huang Yu-sheng, secretary general of the Consumers Foundation, said awnings cannot be used by the occupants of the buildings and should be excluded from the size of housing units.

Noting that the general size of awnings on buildings has grown from a protrusion of 15 centimeters to 70 centimeters in the last two decades, Huang said the premier is helping builders to fleece house buyers.

“Instead of stemming the rise of housing prices, the policy reversal will cause a price escalation,” he warned.

Interior Minister Jiang emphasized that no final decision on the issue has been made yet and his ministry will strive to hammer out a compromise as instructed by the premier.

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