Sale of Vinares apartments suspended

Nov 6, 2023, 4:46 AM
Vinares flats in Hulhumale'. -- Photo: Abdulla Iyaan/ Adhadhu

Vinares flats in Hulhumale'. -- Photo: Abdulla Iyaan/ Adhadhu

The sale of Vinares apartments has been suspended due to technical problems with Urbanco's online portal.

"This corporation has received a lot of complaints due to technical problems faced through the online portal at the time that the submission of application forms [to buy Vinares flats] was opened. Therefore, as this corporation has noted that there are matters that need to be further looked into in relation to the complaints, a decision has been made to halt the submission of forms to buy apartments through the online portal," reads a statement released by Urbanco.

A new date for the sale will be announced after the technical problems are resolved, the company said.

Some 123 Vinares flats that remained unsold for various reasons were put up for sale at 10 am on Sunday.

The flats were sold out in less than an hour after the online sale began, Urbanco said yesterday.

The unsold flats were put up for sale after the interest rate for long-term installment payments for the Vinares flats was reduced from nine percent to six percent.

A discount of 10 percent is offered for lump sum payments.

Contracted to the China Machinary Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the 10 towers built under the Vinares project each has 1,344 three-bedroom apartments.

A total of 1,413 forms were submitted when the flats were made available for purchase, out of which 723 applicants were deemed eligible.

The price of the apartments built under the project ranges between MVR 2.5 million to MVR 3 million.

After the downpayment is paid, buyers will have the option of making the payment over 20 or 25 years.

The monthly payment will be between MVR 16,000 to MVR 20,000.

The project was launched during former President Abdulla Yameen's administration.

But the foundation was not laid for most of the towers when the government changed. Most of the project was begun and completed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration.

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