Real estate industry leaders say a central database of flat sizes is needed to prevent lawsuits arising from discrepancies between two data sources used by the property agents' watchdog.
They made the plea after the Estate Agents Authority on Tuesday ordered agents to display the 'saleable area' of all second-hand flats in advertising from next year. Saleable area includes only usable areas within the flat.
Agents and developers often use the 'gross floor area', which boosts the quoted size of a flat by including bay windows and its share of communal areas, such as lobbies and staircases. The practice has been condemned as highly misleading.
Both the Ratings and Valuation Department and the Land Registry hold details of flats' saleable area - but one example uncovered by the Post shows a discrepancy between the two of 16 square feet. While the department puts the saleable area of a HK$9 million flat at The Icon in Conduit Road at 42 square metres (452 sq ft), the registry puts it at 40.47 square metres (436 sq ft).
The authority has admitted there could be 'a small discrepancy' between the sources, but said agents would not be liable for discrepancies, even if an owner suffered a loss because of the difference.
But Shih Wing-ching, founder of the Centaline Property Agency, said he was concerned that buyers would take their agents to court if they uncovered such a discrepancy.
'Buyers don't think the same as the authority,' Shih said. 'That the authority accepts something does not mean it will also be accepted by buyers.'