Probe launched on sales in Apex hotel over stamp duty
Cheung Kong insists sales of units at hotel in Kwai Chung are not a way to avoid stamp duty
The Lands Departments is investigating whether property giant Cheung Kong has violated land lease regulations by selling units at a suite hotel.
Buyers do not have to pay stamp duties when buying commercial property.
The probe comes as the first 65 of the 360 units in the Apex Horizon hotel in Kwai Chung, which opened in 2009, were offered for sale last night, attracting more than 100 potential buyers. More will be available today.
On offer were 660-square-foot, two-bedroom units and 909-sq-ft three-bedroom units. The average selling price was HK$5,200 per square foot.
It is the latest attempt by a developer to offer options to investors wishing to avoid the growing policy risks of residential property.
Buyers of Apex Horizon do not need to pay buyer's stamp duty or special stamp duty, as this is a commercial property
"Buyers of Apex Horizon do not need to pay buyer's stamp duty or special stamp duty, as this is a commercial property," executive director Justin Chiu Kwok-hung said. Chiu insisted the sale was not aimed at circumventing the special 15 per cent duty on non-locals and businesses and up to 20 per cent duty if the properties were resold within three years - measures introduced last October to cool the market.