[Video] China’s ‘toxic’ rental rooms

Tenants in China are taking to social media to warn others about chuan chuan rooms (串串房, fixer-uppers flipped on the market after a hasty touch-up). These apartments renovated or refurbished with poor-quality materials and appliances are often rented out immediately without proper treatment. As a result, high levels of formaldehyde and benzene in the air may put tenants’ health at risk, or even lead to diseases such as leukemia. Hence, Chinese netizens also call these rental units “leukemia suites”.

Netizens say one can spot a chuan chuan room by some of these common traits: shabby exteriors paired with new, Instagram-worthy interiors; a new mattress still wrapped in plastic; two-tone curtains; and unbranded appliances. Concerned tenants often post pictures of their rooms on social media, asking for help.

In an article in Legal Daily, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences noted that protecting tenant rights is made harder by the high costs of engaging professionals to test for harmful substances; the difficulty of proving that health issues are caused by being exposed to toxic air pollutants in the property; and ambiguous liability regulations involving landlords, agents, furniture suppliers, and renovation companies.

“Working hard to pay the landlord’s mortgage by day, and breathing in formaldehyde for them at night” is a common refrain among affected tenants. Such self-mockery could be steeped in a sense of helplessness. 

Related: Tackling food fraud upstream and downstream | Chinese customers buy into ‘elixir of youth’