More than 400 families are set to lose their homes in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, for the second time in less than a decade to make way for high-rises, which authorities believe can accommodate more residents.

The villas, which face demolition, are part of the Mahuxincun development in Wushang district, situated within the city's third-ring road, next to the South Lake Avenue, one of the arterial roads in Wuhan.

Completed in 2005 and 2008 as the second and third phases of a relocation program for residents of Mahu village, the villas look as good as new.

Owners of the villas are largely villagers whose lands were requisitioned a few years ago when the provincial high-tech pioneer park and the city's Donghu technology development zone were erected in Mahu village.

As part of the government's relocation program, the villagers were given apartments ranging from 240 to 360 square meters in the three-story villa-style buildings in the Mahuxincun development as compensation for their land.

With another relocation plan now on the cards, the residents of the Mahuzincun development are far from happy.

Although the homeowners will not have to pay for their new houses, extra costs to decorate seem unavoidable.

"I borrowed 100,000 yuan ($14,705) to decorate my house (in Mahuxincun)," a resident surnamed Chen, who moved in four years ago, was quoted as saying by Jinghua Times. "I just cannot afford to do it again."

Another homeowner surnamed Cheng said he has yet to move into his apartment in the Mahuxincun development. "There is no point now," he said. "My brand-new house, which I have never lived in, is soon going to be demolished."

According to the community's office worker, the village was included in the city's new urban development plan in 2007 and the authorities are faced with increasing pressure to relocate more residents.

"The remaining land is not enough to provide housing for all, so some united villas will be demolished to give way to high residential buildings," the office worker said.

Within hours of the news being posted on sina.com, 900 comments were posted with netizens blaming the authorities for a lack of proper planning.

"The authorities should think things over before they do urban development planning," a netizen from Jiangsu province said.

"What a huge waste of public money!" said another from Henan province.

"The local officials will now boast about the GDP created during the demolition and reconstruction," a netizen from Zhejiang province said.

The land adjacent to the Mahuxincun development was bought by Poly Real Estate at a price of 1,600 yuan per sq m and the residential housing there is being sold at more than 6,000 yuan per sq m.

An insider, who declined to be named, said the Mahuxincun land will be transferred to a real estate developer at a low price and the new buildings will be allocated for commercial housing, besides a small part, which will be used to relocate villagers.