HK Sets New Rules to Further Regulate Property Developers

To further enhance the transparency on transaction information, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region said on Tuesday that real estate developers should state the estimated completion date of the development while making public the transaction information.

The newly issued rules, which will take effect from August 12, also required developers to provide information on seized transactions within five working days after the Agreements for Sale and Purchase (ASPs) were canceled, said the spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau.

Up to now, developers have been required to make available transaction information on uncompleted first-hand residential properties within five working days after the signing of the Preliminary Agreements for Sale and Purchase.

The information should include the date of the ASPs, the units being sold, the transacted amount and those transactions involving members of the board of the developers, and their immediate family members.

The new rules would help increase transparency of the transaction, said the spokesman, who also explained that the regulations were in the wake of public concern about the recent failure of individual developers to publicize information on canceled transactions in time.

In June, Henderson Land, a HK-based developer controlled by billionaire Lee Shau-kee, said that 20 out of its 24 sold flats at Conduit Road, a luxury residential property sold last October, fell through, sparking a government probe.