Buying a house for most of the people is a once in a lifetime decision, which means people decide to do so only after coming across the ideal house. Surprisingly, eight in every 10 home buyers are unhappy with their houses.

A survey conducted by the Beijing Consumers' Association (BCA) recently shows about 80 percent of the 2,315 respondents in 23 residential complexes of Beijing are dissatisfied with the soaring house prices.

They think the reasonable price in Beijing should be between 3,000 yuan (US$388) and 7,000 yuan (US$906) per square meter.

The quality of the buildings, the surrounding environment and traffic and property management are the other factors that play a role in people's decision to buy a house.

The BCA has suggested strict sales regulations and contracts to ease house-owners' sufferings. It has urged the authorities to impose severe punishment on developers found violating building and other rules and joining hands with others to bid up property prices.

About 41.2 percent of the respondents have complained that their houses have defective designs, while nearly 40 percent say the lighting and ventilation are far from satisfactory.

The landscapes in the residential areas are a source of unhappiness for 43.2 percent of the respondents, and about one-third say they were "bluffed" into buying "third grade" houses.

And more than half are not satisfied with the sport and entertainment facilities in their residential complexes and neighborhoods.

Property management in the buildings, 56.5 percent of the respondents say, is below standard compared to the high fee charged by the complexes.

A whopping 60 percent of the consumers doubt the contents of developers' advertisements, with only 6.3 percent being satisfied.

Experts have suggested consumers gather thorough knowledge about a developer and their work before deciding to buy a house from it. They should check the day-light conditions and ventilation in different weather conditions in advance, if possible.

The average lifespan of a house in China is 50 years when it could reach 80 in some European countries such as Switzerland and Norway, and up to 132 years in others like England.

"I checked more than 50 residential complexes in over 30 cities in China and found that almost 95 percent of the new designs proposed last year had high construction standards. But more than half of the finished buildings didn't meet that standard," said Zhou Leijian, an expert from Ministry of Construction.

"Therefore, we should pay more attention to the process of construction, and guarantee the quality of building materials to have high quality houses that satisfy the consumers," Zhou said.

(China Daily April 9, 2007)