Owner of new flat spends 150,000 yuan renovating wrong apartment in China

A man in southwest China has spent 150,000 yuan (HK$172,000) renovating what he thought was his new home, only to be told it was the wrong flat, according to a newspaper report.

The man spent 630,000 yuan on a new apartment on the 40th floor of a block in Chongqing in June and was handed over the keys to flat number 40-4 after submitting copies of his purchase contract and ownership certificate in September, the Chongqing Evening News reported.

He started renovating the apartment earlier this month and had already spent 150,000 yuan when he received a call from the property management office last Thursday saying he had been renovating somebody else’s home.

The property management office said there were eight apartments on the 40th floor, but only four had been sold because the remaining four were attached to owners of the 39th floor whose flats featured two storeys.

It led to a mix-up in the numbers allocated for the flats and keys and he was given ones for the wrong apartment, the report said. The one he had been renovating belonged to the owner of 40-8.