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HONG KONG: More than 800 Home Ownership Scheme flats in Tin Shui Wai that were originally scheduled for sale this month have been held back because of a row over management fees between the government and the owners' committee of the estate.
The 825 flats in Tin Chung Court, which make up about one-fifth of the remaining HOS flats, will be pulled from a sale that starts tomorrow, the Housing Authority said yesterday.
The HOS, launched in 1978, allowed eligible families to buy their homes from the authority at a substantial discount to the market price. It was mothballed in 2002 after pressure from private developers.
The announcement came a day after about 100 Tin Chung Court flat owners demonstrated outside the Central Government Offices in Central and the authority's headquarters in Ho Man Tin. They criticised the authority for not paying the management fees of vacant flats on the estate since 1999. The amount has come up to HK$71 million (RM29.4 million), including interest. A spokesman for the authority said it had been actively liaising with the owners' committee.
"Having regard for the time required for the mediation process, we decided not to offer the flats concerned for sale at this stage," he said.
A person familiar with the authority's position explained that the flats were pulled out just two days before the sale because the committee and the authority had only just agreed to resolve the dispute through mediation. The two sides had appointed a mediator.
"The Housing Authority, as a responsible flat owner, thinks it should solve the problem before selling the units," he said.
The price tag for the 825 flats had been set at about HK$1 million each.
Tin Chung Court was one of the estates involved in a short-piling scandal in 1999, when uneven ground settlement was discovered.
Flat owners say the government should not shirk its responsibility and make them shoulder all the maintenance fees.
Meanwhile, 3,219 HOS flats in other areas will be open for application from tomorrow.
The number excludes some taken up by residents affected by the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.
A government insider believes holding back the Tin Chung Court flats will not affect the sale, since so many other flats, in 33 estates, are up for sale. She believed the dispute would be resolved soon, and that once the problem was solved the authority would put the flats on the market as soon as possible.
Lo Chau, committee member of the People's Council on Housing Policy, said the government should not have withdrawn the flats from sale. "The row on the management fees is only a technical problem that the government should be able to solve in a short time," Lo said. "Now, holding back the flats will affect people who need to buy HOS flats."
The 3,219 flats have a saleable area of between 205 square feet and 666 square feet. The selling prices range from HK$302,400, at Lung Hin Court in Tai O, Lantau Island, to HK$3.28 million, in Tung Tao Court, Shau Kei Wan.
The prices are set at a discount of 30% below market value.
"As the unsold flats have been completed for several years, some of the fixtures and fittings may not look brand new," the authority's spokesman said. "For reasons of environmental protection, we will not replace them as long as they still function properly. Nonetheless, rectification of pre-sale defects and maintenance works have been carried out and a one-year defect liability period will be provided." -- South China Morning Post
The 825 flats in Tin Chung Court, which make up about one-fifth of the remaining HOS flats, will be pulled from a sale that starts tomorrow, the Housing Authority said yesterday.
The HOS, launched in 1978, allowed eligible families to buy their homes from the authority at a substantial discount to the market price. It was mothballed in 2002 after pressure from private developers.
The announcement came a day after about 100 Tin Chung Court flat owners demonstrated outside the Central Government Offices in Central and the authority's headquarters in Ho Man Tin. They criticised the authority for not paying the management fees of vacant flats on the estate since 1999. The amount has come up to HK$71 million (RM29.4 million), including interest. A spokesman for the authority said it had been actively liaising with the owners' committee.
"Having regard for the time required for the mediation process, we decided not to offer the flats concerned for sale at this stage," he said.
A person familiar with the authority's position explained that the flats were pulled out just two days before the sale because the committee and the authority had only just agreed to resolve the dispute through mediation. The two sides had appointed a mediator.
"The Housing Authority, as a responsible flat owner, thinks it should solve the problem before selling the units," he said.
The price tag for the 825 flats had been set at about HK$1 million each.
Tin Chung Court was one of the estates involved in a short-piling scandal in 1999, when uneven ground settlement was discovered.
Flat owners say the government should not shirk its responsibility and make them shoulder all the maintenance fees.
Meanwhile, 3,219 HOS flats in other areas will be open for application from tomorrow.
The number excludes some taken up by residents affected by the construction of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.
A government insider believes holding back the Tin Chung Court flats will not affect the sale, since so many other flats, in 33 estates, are up for sale. She believed the dispute would be resolved soon, and that once the problem was solved the authority would put the flats on the market as soon as possible.
Lo Chau, committee member of the People's Council on Housing Policy, said the government should not have withdrawn the flats from sale. "The row on the management fees is only a technical problem that the government should be able to solve in a short time," Lo said. "Now, holding back the flats will affect people who need to buy HOS flats."
The 3,219 flats have a saleable area of between 205 square feet and 666 square feet. The selling prices range from HK$302,400, at Lung Hin Court in Tai O, Lantau Island, to HK$3.28 million, in Tung Tao Court, Shau Kei Wan.
The prices are set at a discount of 30% below market value.
"As the unsold flats have been completed for several years, some of the fixtures and fittings may not look brand new," the authority's spokesman said. "For reasons of environmental protection, we will not replace them as long as they still function properly. Nonetheless, rectification of pre-sale defects and maintenance works have been carried out and a one-year defect liability period will be provided." -- South China Morning Post
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