Lawmakers demand more action to stop flat sale deceptions

Lawmakers called yesterday for more regulations to prohibit property developers issuing false and misleading information to inflate flat prices - but the housing minister responded that developers were already barred from flat pre-sales if they breached rules.

At a meeting of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee, Democrat Lee Wing-tat asked: 'When there is false market information about the stock market, [the Securities and Futures Commission] will investigate it closely, but why when property developers deliberately manipulate the market and issue false information, is there is no way for us to investigate them?'

His question was raised after reports saying only one luxury flat at Henderson Land Development's 39 Conduit Road block had been sold so far, according to Land Registry records on Friday, despite an earlier claim by the developer that contracts had been signed for 25 flats.

Last week Henderson Group chairman Lee Shau-kee said he was willing to bet that no transactions for apartments at the block were faked. He said some buyers had asked to delay payments, so the sale of some flats had yet to be completed.

A five-bedroom duplex in the block was sold for a world record HK$439 million - equal to HK$88,000 per sq ft - late last year.

Another legislator, Wong Kwok-hing, urged the government to enhance rules so that buyers would not be affected by misleading information, saying it was a huge investment for most people to buy a flat.