Concerns have been mounting for investors of EcoHouse following last week’s denial by the Brazilian Embassy in Singapore in a press statement that: “… the Embassy had no prior knowledge of the existence of EcoHouse’s operations in Brazil.”
A spokesman for EcoHouse, in a statement to PropertyGuru this morning, said: “A spokesman for EcoHouse said: “Investors remain the company’s number one priority.
“EcoHouse will issue a direct communique to its investors in the coming week, in order to alleviate concerns created by distorted information, inaccurate reporting, false and unsubstantiated allegations, that are currently circulating in the public domain.
“Unfortunately incorrect information has appeared in select media outlets recently, and steps are now being taken, in conjunction with the firm’s lawyers, to clarify the facts with the relevant organisations.
“EcoHouse’s position is and has always been clear. The company has explained repeatedly on the record that it utilises private funds to construct properties and then sell them to Brazilian buyers who qualify for the Minah Casa Minah Vida (MCMV) social housing programme, thereby obtaining 100 percent government-backed mortgages with federal subsidised rates.
“In doing things this way EcoHouse maintains flexibility, providing greater security to its investors through retaining the option to sell the properties to any viable buyer, whether they be MCMV eligible or not.
“EcoHouse is of course frustrated by the current delay. The company does fully empathise with its investors and is doing everything it can to expedite matters.
“Delays are unfortunate but commonplace in the construction business. As in this case, they are sometimes unavoidable. Provisions were made for such situations within EcoHouse investor contracts.
“EcoHouse looks forward to updating investors and setting the record straight, so that it can fully focus on completing it’s projects and providing them with a healthy return.”
Early last month the company closed its Suntec offices in Singapore.
In a statement at the time Chief Operations Officer for EcoHouse Deen Bissessar told PropertyGuru: “I can confirm that we have taken measures to consolidate into our Brazil operation and managing global affairs from our global headquarters in London.
“This will not only help to reduce costs, but to fix administrative and communication issues. Singapore investors should ideally view this as a further measure to improve the overall company position, thereby allowing us to complete our contracts with them faster.”
He added that all client communications should be directed to sales.support@ecohousegroup.com where a member of the EcoHouse U.K. team will respond.
EcoHouse was reported to be the largest single overseas property investment in 2012, with up to 1,000 Singapore investors paying S46,000 per unit with the promise of up to 20 per cent returns on their capital within 12 months.
Image: Construction at the Casa Nova site in Natal, Northeast Brazil, in October 2013. © PropertyGuru 2014.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
