The Government has hastened processing of developers' pre-sale applications, with 10,211 unfinished flats approved to go on sale in the first half of this year. The figure represents an 8.7 per cent increase over the 9,397 units approved in the first half of 1995, and a 13.8 per cent rise over the second half of last year. The increase reflected efforts made by the Government to accelerate the processing of approval for pre-sale consents, aimed at increasing housing supply, analysts said. The Lands Department said it had approved 11 applications for consent to pre-sell 3,080 residential units and some non-residential units in uncompleted developments in the second quarter. Together with the 7,131 unfinished units approved by the department in the first quarter, 10,211 units overall had been authorised for pre-sale in the first six months. According to the Lands Department, consent had been given to 21,893 residential flats since the measures for pre-sale were introduced by the Government in June 1994. In 1994, only 27 pre-sale applications, involving 17,784 flats, were approved, representing a sharp decrease in supply compared with 60 applications involving 30,485 flats approved in 1993. In December, the Government announced the extension of the pre-sale period from nine months to 12 months, which was seen as a relaxation of its policy and would speed up the pre-sale process. Large projects granted pre-sale consents so far this year included Henderson Land's The Tolo Place in Ma On Shan, and its first phase of Metro City, Tseung Kwan O. Also included were Sun Hung Kai Properties' King's Park Villa near Tsim Sha Tsui, and the second phase of Royal Ascot in Sha Tin. The department said consent had been given to four Private Sector Participation Scheme subsidised housing projects.
