A fresh debate looms over property sales after Henderson Land asked potential buyers to pay a deposit before joining a ballot for private sales in a new development.
The company wants prospective buyers to pay HK$100,000 to enter the ballot for flats in the Grand Waterfront project in To Kwa Wan. Those missing out on the flat of their choice would receive a refund. In all, 5,588 customers paid the deposit before the August 26 sales and were given only a price list after submitting their cheques.
Henderson Land said it required the deposit to ensure only serious buyers joined the ballot and it did not break any rules as the development was not subject to the government's consent scheme.
But the action was at odds with a pact reached by the Real Estate Developers' Association (Reda) in 1997 that all developments be sold under consent scheme rules.
In private sales, the developer of a consent scheme project can accept a deposit of about 5 per cent of the purchase price only when the buyer signs a provisional agreement for sale and purchase.
The consent scheme usually applies to developments on newly auctioned or newly developed land, while non-consent scheme projects are often in redeveloped areas, such as the To Kwa Wan site.