Minefield for would-be purchasers

PROSPECTIVE flat buyers today confront a daunting minefield of mis-description and exaggeration.

In many cases, it is a mission to obscure the facts.

The most common complaint, of course, is gross floor area.

Consumer Council chief executive Pamela Chan Wong Shui last night cited one brazen case where the flat represented only 44 per cent of the space originally advertised.

Mrs Wong said the Consumer Council instigated an investigation two years ago into the widespread practice of not properly stating the dimensions and substance of uncompleted flats.

The results were staggering. Many of the artists' impressions of spacious living rooms with comfortable sofas and eight-chair dining tables were far from the truth.