Developers are making a last-ditch effort to reverse new government rules on floor areas scheduled to take effect in April.
Forget large swimming pools and luxury clubhouses, warned the Real Estate Developers Association. Water and drain pipes will be exposed. Covered walkways and easily accessible car parks could become a thing of the past, it said.
The rules will cap the size of amenities and green features to no more than 10 per cent of gross floor area. And the association's secretary general, Louis Loong Hon-biu, said this could yield more usable space in flats.
But in an interview with the South China Morning Post, the powerful association spelled out, for the first time, its detailed stance and opposition to the rules.
Loong warned that by putting a cap on the size of clubhouses, balconies, bay windows and many other features, the rules would discourage developers from building green and leisure facilities.
'A swimming pool has to come with a water filtration plant room, which will be accounted for in gross floor area,' he said. 'Developers would reconsider whether to build a pool in the first place. If more buildings are devoid of pools, demand for public pools will rise. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will have to step up its work.'