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STORY: These Chinese home buyers have seen dreams of owning their own place shattered.

They're chanting 'we want our house back', and holding contracts in their hands for apartments in an unfinished residential complex in the northwestern city of Tongchuan.

Shi Tieniu is a construction worker.

He bought a presale apartment for $38,000, not knowing that eight years later it would still be unfinished.

The block was advertised as a high-end complex with "CEO-level service".

But now every night Shi climbs 20 flights of stairs to sleep in a room without water, heating or electricity.

"I don't have any choice now. Living here, there's no water or electricity. When I come back from work at night and climb up the stairs to the 20th floor, I have to use a flashlight. For lighting, as you can see, I use solar-powered lamp. It's set to automatic, so it turns on at night and off during the day. I virtually don't drink water or wash my face up here. I can even say I don't brush my teeth. From May until now, I work on the construction site during the day and come up here to sleep at night."

Shi and a dozen others live in the block to pressure authorities to address so-called 'rotting' or unfinished homes.

Such buildings have become more common during China's years-long property slump, where many developers have gone bankrupt or struggled with their debts.

Residents say construction has stalled since 2015, but flats kept being sold until 2020.

Many of Shi's neighbours are retirees who had bought apartments for their unmarried sons, or labourers who can't afford to rent elsewhere.

Inside, solar-powered lamps illuminate bare concrete walls and floors covered with layers of dust and gravel.

Residents cook in a first-floor communal kitchen with a single gas burner.

They also share the communal toilet in a makeshift metal shed.

This 73 year-old buyer called the experience heart-wrenching, cruel and unimaginable.

While this resident is a former coal miner. He paid $33,000 for an apartment five years ago.

"We've been busy our entire lives. The developer asked us to gather money, but we don't have a stable source of income. We work as security guards and take odd jobs to make ends meet."

According to multiple housing contracts seen by Reuters, the names of the developer and project changed a number of times.

Buyers claimed Tongchuan officials said three years ago that a committee was established to resolve the issue, but construction did not resume.

The developer could not be contacted for comment.

Tongchuan city government and China's housing ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.