The government announced yesterday that it will repossess the plot of land where the mothballed Pearl Horizon residential project is located – based on a ruling by the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) which turned down the project developer’s appeal against the government’s cancellation of the site’s provisional land concession.
The government also said in the announcement that it planned to develop a temporary housing project on the site with some of the temporary housing project’s units to be set aside for Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers to purchase.
The government has been planning for some time to build temporary housing projects for residents affected by possible urban renewal projects – for residents to temporarily live in after their old homes have been demolished for redevelopment.
The government announced its proposed solutions to the longrunning Pearl Horizon row during a special press conference at Government Headquarters.
The government hosted the press conference yesterday afternoon after the Court of Final Appeal had announced in the morning that it decided to turn down an appeal by Polytex Import and Export Company Ltd. over the government’s annulment of the site’s provisional land concession.
Polytex’s parent company is Hong Kong-listed Polytec Asset Holdings Limited, which requested the halting of trading in the company’s shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with effect from 1 p.m. yesterday, “pending the release of an announcement relating to the inside information of the company”.
Polytec is chaired by prominent Hong Kong developer Or Wai Sheun.
The Land Law, which was passed by the legislature in August 2013, stipulates that provisional land concessions cannot be renewed upon their expiration if their leaseholders fail to finish developing the respective plots of land within a maximum concession period of 25 years. The law came into force in March 2014.
The ill-fated residential construction project has been mothballed since December 2015 when its provisional land concession expired. The government then announced the annulment of the site’s provisional land concession in January 2016. Polytex then sued the government over the land concession’s cancellation.
The Court of Second Instance (TSI) turned down the developer’s appeal over the provisional land concession’s cancellation in October last year. In response, the developer then filed an appeal with the Court of Final Appeal.
Since 2016, dozens of disgruntled pre-sale buyers have held a string of protest rallies and repeatedly petitioned the government over their plight.
According to the Land Law, the government must annul a site’s provisional land concession if the developer cannot obtain the government’s occupancy permit for the residential project on the site – i.e. the developer fails to finish developing the plot – before its provisional land concession expires, regardless of whether the developer or the government is to blame for the former’s failure to finish developing the plot, the city’s top court said in its statement on the ruling yesterday.
According to building construction regulations, the government issues an occupancy permit for a completed residential building that has passed a survey confirming that the building is suitable for human habitation.
The TUI statement said that the court therefore decided to turn down the appeal by Polytex against the government’s cancellation of the site’s provisional land concession.
Addressing yesterday’s press conference, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan announced that the government has decided to repossess the plot where the ill-fated Pearl Horizon residential project is located, in response to the ruling by the Court of Final Appeal.
Chan said that the government was now proposing to use the plot for a temporary housing project involving a number of buildings that would be needed during the future urban renewal process. She said that some of the units of the various temporary housing buildings on the site would be set aside for Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers to purchase if they wished.
Chan stressed that the plan is just a proposal by the government and that its implementation would require legislation regulating the government’s temporary housing plans. She said that the government would launch a public consultation in the third quarter on the drafting of the bill on temporary housing.
The bill will have to be submitted to the Legislative Assembly (AL) for debate and vote.
Chan said that the proposal would allow the Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers to finally move into a flat. She did not say when the government plans to get the project off the ground. However, she said it was the government’s aim for the legislature to pass the
bill before the end of the current government’s term
The current government’s term ends on December 19, 2019.
Under the proposal, according to Chan, only individual pre-sale buyers can purchase units of the temporary housing buildings built on the Pearl Horizon site. Units bought in the name of companies will not be included.
According to the proposal, each pre-sale buyer can only buy one unit in the temporary housing buildings, regardless of how many
Pearl Horizon units each of them had bought from the developer, according to Chan.
According to the proposal, in the case in which multiple pre-sale buyers jointly had purchased multiple Pearl Horizon units, the number of the temporary housing building units that they will be allowed to buy cannot exceed the number of the Pearl Horizon units that they had purchased, according to Chan.
Chan said that the price per square foot for the temporary housing building units to be set aside for the Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers will be the same as the price per square foot stipulated in the original Pearl Horizon home purchase contracts, according to the proposal.
Chan also said that although the government plans that the buildings on the Pearl Horizon site be designated as temporary housing
units, the government’s proposed bill regulating its temporary housing plan would allow residents who meet certain conditions to purchase property there.
Chan gave the example in which residents unable to move back to their redeveloped properties would, according to the proposal, be entitled to buy the temporary housing units they have been living in since moving out of their original homes.
According to Chan, this special situation would also be applicable to Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers.
According to Chan, about 1,800 Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers purchased one unit each, involving some 1,600 flats, some of them concerning a single flat purchased by more than one person.
More than 400 pre-sale buyers purchased more than one unit each, involving some 1,100 units.
A total of 134 pre-sale buyers purchased Pearl Horizon units in the name of companies, involving 139 flats, according to Chan.
In the press conference, Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) Director Li Canfeng said that the Pearl Horizon plot in Areia Preta district, officially known as plot “P”, covers an area of 68,000 square metres. According to the Official Gazette (BO), the developer planned to construct 18 47 storey residential buildings on the plots.
According to Li, the government plans to build commercial and community service facilities on the site, in addition to residential buildings.
Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan addresses yesterday’s press conference about the government’s proposed solution to the long-running Pearl Horizon row, at Government Headquarters. Photo: Tony Wong
This photo taken yesterday shows the site of the ill-fated Pearl Horizon residential project, officially known as plot “P”, in Areia Preta district. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
