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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The validity period of the 2 500 Approval Letters issued to successful applicants (2 250 family applicants and 250 one-person applicants) under the new round of the Interim Scheme to Extend the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Secondary Market to White Form Buyers for collection of the Certificate of Eligibility to Purchase (CEP) ended on February 3.
Out of the 2 500 successful applicants, 2 368 applicants (2 130 family applicants and 238 one-person applicants) collected the CEP. According to the procedures endorsed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee in June 2015, to fully utilise the unused quota, the HA will issue, on a one-off basis, Approval Letters to a further 132 applicants (120 family applicants and 12 one-person applicants) who passed the detailed vetting tomorrow (February 26) according to the order of priority. The relevant list of applicants will be uploaded to the HA/Housing Department website (www.housingauthority.gov.hk) tomorrow.
A spokesman for the HA said today (February 25) that within four weeks from the date of issue (i.e. on or before March 24), holders of the Approval Letters may collect from the HA and/or the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS) the CEP to purchase a flat with premium not yet paid in the HA's HOS Secondary Market or the HS' Flat-for-Sale Scheme Secondary Market. The fee for each CEP is $710.
"The CEP is valid for 12 months from the date of issue and no extension will be granted upon its expiry. To complete the transaction, holders of the CEP need to apply to the HA or the HS for a Letter of Nomination within one month from the date they entered into a Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase," the spokesman said.
The new round of the Interim Scheme is expected to end in the first half of 2017. The HA will conduct a comprehensive review of the Interim Scheme thereafter to decide the future of the Interim Scheme.
Ends/Thursday, February 25, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:00
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