Relax, property owners: Hong Kong development minister sees no major policy shift on land leases after 2047
Paul Chan Mo-po seeks to dispel fears of an automatic loss of property rights after ‘one country, two systems’ ends
Hong Kong property owners should not believe “alarmist” speculation that the government will make dramatic policy changes on land leases after 2047, the city’s development minister said yesterday.
The misconceptions, Chan said, stemmed from an interpretation of Annex III of the declaration that all lands leased by the government before the city’s 1997 handover to Beijing would expire on June 30, 2047.
“I hope residents will acknowledge the facts,” Chan wrote in his weekly blog yesterday. “There is no need for people to frighten themselves.”
There is no need for people to frighten themselves
“I especially would advise small property owners not to so easily believe rumours such as ‘you will automatically lose your property rights after 2047’ so as to avoid selling property based on such false information, and incurring losses.”