They thought the double-storey link houses in Taman Cheras Prima would be their dream homes. However, the property turned out to be a nightmare for the 200 buyers instead.

After waiting an additional two years for the homes to be completed, they had to settle for leaking roofs, uneven floors and walls, and hairline cracks on the walls.

To make matters worse, the houses were without certificates of fitness, preventing them from moving in.

The housing estate, situated near Balakong, was built by a Puchong-based developer in 2001 but they were only issued vacant possession letters and keys recently.

Taman Cheras Prima pro-tem committee chairman R. Suresh told The Malay Mail they have informed the developer of the defects, but the repairs were not satisfactory.

“We decided to lodge a complaint with the Housing Tribunal against the developer for the late delivery. The majority of us won the case.

“However, the developer refused to pay the liquidated damages because it wanted to pursue the matter in a higher court,” he said, adding that the payment was due on May 8.

The 32-year-old bank officer also claimed that the developer said that it was not their responsibility to compensate the buyers as the project was delayed because the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) did not approve the sewerage plan and they had to rebuild it.

The buyers also claimed that the promise to build a proper road to the housing estate from Balakong town failed to materialise.

Suresh said despite not being able to move in, buyers have to service their bank loans ranging from RM1,500 to RM2,000 monthly. “We are basically paying for nothing,” he said.

The houses, which have three bedrooms and two bath rooms, are from RM180,000 to RM200,000 each. “We are afraid of moving in because there is no CF yet. Most of the families are renting elsewhere and their landlords are chasing them out of the house,” he said.

The 15-member committee and house buyers sought the help of DAP National Consumer Bureau head Khong Chee Seng yesterday.

“This is not fair to the house buyers. I will bring this matter to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government,” Khong said after visiting the housing estate.