Key victory for flat buyers in legal battle with developer

Seven flat buyers have won a key dispute in a legal battle against a subsidiary of property giant Cheung Kong (Holdings) they accuse of failing to complete a luxury residential development in Kowloon Tong on time.

The buyers are seeking more than HK$1 million from Match Power Investment, which they claim breached the property purchase contract as it obtained the certificate of compliance from the Buildings Department in July 2004, five months after the scheduled completion date.

The Court of First Instance ruled that a letter the developer asked the buyers to sign when selecting a parking space should not serve as a settlement agreement over the delay in completing One Beacon Hill, although it contained a clause that the developer intended to settle all the rights of the buyers. All but one of the seven buyers signed the letter.

In her judgment on Christmas Eve, Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling said the developer offered the HK$1 parking spaces before the dispute over the delay in completion arose. When the developer invited the buyers to its office to sign the letter in August and September 2004, it informed them only that the purpose was to select their parking spaces.

'[The buyers] had not been told, and there was no indication that it was also an occasion to deal with their complaints about the delay in completion or demands for compensation,' Chu said.

The letter, which has a clause saying it would serve as 'the full and final settlement of all the purchasers' rights', is an acknowledgement of buying the parking space only and should not be taken as a settlement covering the delay claim, she said.

Match Power denies there was any delay and has not indicated whether it will appeal against the ruling. If no appeal is lodged in 28 days, the case will proceed to a trial.