A new project in Tai Kok Tsui is falling far short of public expectations that, under new rules, half the total number of flats would now be offered for sale. Only 75 flats in the Hermitage will be on sale in the first batch, just 8 per cent of the total number.
The Hermitage, which will deliver 964 flats upon completion, is the first project regulated by new measures on flat sales, starting from June 1, which are designed to limit the potential for price manipulation.
But Sino Land, the main developer, says it has followed the rules of the Real Estate Developers Association (REDA), which water down the impact of the new government rules.
'REDA says the minimum number of units to be included in the first price list will be 50 units or 50 per cent of the total number of units put up for sale in each batch, whichever is higher,' said a spokeswoman for the developer, who released the price list yesterday. 'So there is no problem.'
The rule as drafted by the government was to require a developer to put up half the 'total number of flats available for sale' in the first batch. This was to force developers to put more flats on the market when launching a sale, instead of only a few dozen to whet buyers' appetites.
Officials never spelled out that 'total number of flats' meant of the whole project or something else.
A spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau said last night that there was no problem with Sino Land's arrangement.
