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The law behind China’s ‘nail houses’: Why the government was forced to pave highway around stubborn homeowners

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China nail house forces government to pave highway around stubborn homeowners

Luo Baogen and his wife must have felt they were sitting pretty when they rejected government compensation for their apartment, saying it wouldn’t cover the cost of rebuilding somewhere else.

In any other jurisdiction their intransigence would probably trigger a lengthy court battle. But this was in China.

The government forged ahead and built a four-lane highway, lapping the asphalt on either side of the five-storey apartment building in Xiazhangyang, a village in Zhejiang province.

The phenomenon is so common, it’s earned its own moniker: These structures are known as nail houses.


In this case, demolition experts took down most of the Luos’ building after the neighbours moved out.

But because the law makes it illegal to demolish a property by force without an agreement, they left enough retaining walls to keep the structure standing. This allows the elderly couple — Mr. Luo is 67, his wife 65 — to continue living there.

The Luos say the government offer of 260,000 yuan (US$41,573) plus two small building sites was not enough to cover the several hundreds of thousands of yuan they said they had spent in renovating the building, the Shanghai Daily reported.

They can continue to live in the apartment as they have an adequate supply of electricity and water. But they said would-be burglars were a problem because the apartment is no longer protected by outside walls.

The road, which leads to Wenling Railway Station, has yet to be opened. Once it does, they can expect a stream of traffic driving day and night.

China has many examples of nail householders.

REUTERS/China Daily

Niu Chuangen and Zhang Zhongyun dared to stand in the way of a local property developer in Zaozhuang, Shandong province, according to The Daily Mail.

The couple, both in their 60s, has been living on a dirt “island” in the centre of a building site, without water and electricity since 2009.

They say they have been regularly threatened by gangsters and have had to fend off attempts to illegally demolish their ramshackle home.

Mr. Niu said he has tried to negotiate with the developer, but he refused to pay more than half the market price of the land.


The most famous nail householders are Yang Wu and Wu Ping, residents of Chongqing, western China (pictured below).

Their house/restaurant was in the middle of the proposed site of a sprawling six-storey shopping mall. While 280 neighbouring families accepted the government’s payout and agreed to leave in 2004, Mr. Yang and Ms. Wu held out.

Developers cut their power and water, and excavated a 10-metre deep pit around their home, which the family had inhabited for three generations.

The owners broke into the construction site, reoccupied it, and flew a Chinese flag on top. Mr. Yang, a local martial arts champion, also threatened to beat any official who attempted to evict him.

“We shall not move. We will live and die with the house!” he shouted from the roof.

After protracted negotiations with the developers, they reportedly settled in 2007 for one million yuan ($166,000), plus a new apartment.

National Post, with files from news services


Below, a few more notable nail houses and more pictures of the house in the middle of the highway.

REUTERS/China Daily

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