There is no guarantee that you will own your flat forever.
While many Hongkongers are putting their life savings into residential property, few are aware that the land leases granted after the handover no longer have a renewable clause.
This means that, from 2047, when guarantees enshrined in the Basic Law expire, the extension of many land leases will depend entirely on the government's discretion. While most people expect the Lands Department to renew the expired leases, the absence of a clear government policy on the issue means there will always be a risk.
Property expert Professor Chau Kwong-wing, of the University of Hong Kong, said 2047 'may sound too distant but it actually is going to affect us in a few years' time, when you apply for a long-term housing mortgage'.
Critics are now urging the government to clarify the conditions of renewal as early as possible to avoid unnecessary fluctuations in the property market - at a time when the city's economy is plagued by uncertainty. It is also an issue that the next chief executive will need to consider for a city in which there is no freehold, except for the land in Central on which St John's Cathedral stands.
Properties built before 1984 generally have a renewable clause in their land leases which guarantees an extension once these expire. Things changed after Beijing and London that year signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which guaranteed Hong Kong's social and economic systems would remain unchanged for 50 years after the 1997 handover. From 1984, it was no longer a given that a land lease would be renewed after 50 years, and after 1997 most land leases no longer had a renewable clause. This is a particular problem for rural properties and those to the north of Boundary Street in Kowloon, which marks the border between the old colony of Hong Kong and the New Territories.