Hotel development's buyers undeterred by 'one-sided' deals

About 80 per cent of the buyers in Cheung Kong's controversial hotel development in Kwai Chung have confirmed their deals, even though the contract terms have been deemed "one-sided" by some lawyers.

This emerged as the government was studying the legality of the sales, under which buyers can avoid stamp duties introduced to cool the property market.

A spokeswoman for the property giant said last night that some buyers of units in the 360-unit Apex Horizon hotel had decided to sign the formal agreement for sales and purchase before today's deadline to do so.

Government officials will discuss the issue with Legco's development panel today.

It is the first time in Hong Kong that a developer has sold hotel suites, classified as commercial property, individually, allowing buyers to escape stamp duty. Some agents are also reported to have told buyers they can get around the law and live in the units themselves, while the hotel will return the rent they pay to comply with licence requirements.

As two buyers who had paid deposits for the hotel suites approached police for help on Sunday, a document named "salient points of Hotel Operation Agreement", attached to the provisional contracts they signed, was revealed to media. The agreement will be included in the formal contract.