From food delivery to babysitting, Chinese home builders turn to ‘butler’ services to boost revenues amid weak sales

As the threat of Covid-19 infection keeps more people indoors, indebted developers are increasingly relying on the so-called butler services of their property management units to bring in some much-needed cash

Many developers, including Country Garden and Poly Property, have been spinning off their services arms and raising capital by listing them separately

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‘Butler’ services of Country Garden. Photo: Sohu

Published: 7:00am, 4 Nov 2020Updated: 11:25am, 4 Nov 2020

Traditionally, Chinese developers have offered little more than security and maintenance services to the residents of their projects once the cranes and diggers have moved on.

But after 2014, when the authorities removed price controls on property management fees, more home builders began offering extras like takeaway food and grocery deliveries, gardening and laundry services.

Seeing the income from their sideline businesses growing, the likes of Country Garden Holdings and Poly Development and Holdings began to spin off their property services units and get them listed independently on the stock market.

Now, with the threat of Covid-19 infection keeping more people indoors, indebted developers are relying more and more on these so-called butler services as a revenue stream to help them through tough times. Some have even branched out into offering babysitting and beauty treatments to boost the appeal of their developments.

With the government signalling its intent to support the sector, and investors starting to take notice, a new breed of services provider is starting to emerge, with well educated staff providing a broader range of services.