The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday passed the outline of a government-initiated bill that proposes the easing of its cooling measures for the home market, informally known as “spicy” measures.
Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong introduced the outline of the bill during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.
After yesterday’s passage of its outline, the bill will be passed to one of the legislature’s standing committees for an article-by-article review, after which it will be resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and article-by-article vote.
The bill, the outline of which was passed yesterday proposes amendments to the current law that levies an additional stamp duty on all those who buy residential units in addition to their first one.
According to the law, which took effect in February 2018, an additional stamp duty of five percent of the declared value of the respective unit is levied on those who buy a second unit, while an additional stamp duty of 10 percent of the declared value is levied on any other residential units purchased.
According to Lei, the amendment bill proposes to cancel the additional five-percent stamp duty levied on those who buy a second residential unit. However, Lei said, the bill proposes to keep the additional 10-percent stamp duty levied on those who buy their third residential unit and any more.
According to Lei, the government proposes that the amendment bill will take effect on January 1 next year – if the bill is passed by the legislature in its second and final reading.
Lei underlined that the government has concluded that it is now suitable to relax its home-market cooling measures after considering the latest developments of the city’s property market and economic situation.
Lei said that the government’s proposed easing of its cooling measures aims to make it easier for residents to improve their living environment, i.e., buying a better home and selling their existing one.
