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Following is a question by the Hon Alan Leong and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (April 13):
Question:
In 2005, the Hong Kong Housing Authority divested certain retail and car parking facilities of its public housing estates to The Link Real Estate Investment Trust, which was renamed as Link Real Estate Investment Trust (Link REIT) in August 2015. It has been learnt that the land leases for the car parks of Link REIT generally provide that the parking spaces may be let only to the residents, occupiers and their bona fide visitors specified therein. However, Link REIT may apply to the Lands Department (LandsD) for waivers of the relevant lease conditions so as to let some of the parking spaces to non-residents, and in doing so, it has to pay waiver fees as well as comply with the terms and conditions set out by LandsD in the waivers. Some members of the public have relayed to me that in recent years, Link REIT has increased the proportion of 12-hour and 24-hour parking spaces for letting to non-residents. As the monthly parking spaces of some of its car parks are often fully taken up and there are often a number of prestigious sedans parked there, those members of the public suspect that some tenants of the shopping malls have assisted, for profits, non-residents in renting the monthly parking spaces. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective current numbers of monthly and hourly parking spaces in the car parks under Link REIT, and the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of its parking spaces, with a breakdown by name of car park; whether the Government has monitored if such numbers and percentages from 2005 onwards have complied with the relevant land lease conditions;
(2) whether it knows the current total number of parking spaces in the car parks under Link REIT which are for letting to non-residents; among such parking spaces, of the respective numbers of those which are let hourly, monthly or by other means (if any), with a breakdown by name of car park; whether the Government has monitored if such numbers and the percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of the relevant parking spaces from 2005 onwards have complied with the relevant land lease conditions;
(3) of the existing mechanism put in place by the Government to monitor and investigate whether Link REIT has complied with the requirement that the parking spaces of its car parks may be let only to the residents, occupiers and their bona fide visitors as specified in the land leases; and
(4) of the number of applications made by Link REIT to LandsD each year since 2005 for waivers of the relevant lease conditions so as to let its parking spaces to non-residents, and the annual total amount of wavier fees paid by Link REIT?
Reply:
President,
To enable the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) to focus its efforts on fulfilling its mission to provide subsidised public housing, and to improve the HA's financial position in the short- to medium-term with proceeds from the divestment of facilities, HA divested 180 properties, including car-parking facilities, through The Link Real Estate Investment Trust (now known as Link) in 2005. Link has been a private entity since its listing in 2005. The Government and HA do not hold any units of Link. The business direction and day-to-day operation of Link are entirely independent of the Government and HA.
Having consolidated inputs from the Development Bureau and the Lands Department (LandsD), my consolidated reply to the Hon Alan Leong's question is as follows.
As with all private owners, so long as its operations comply with the legislation and land lease conditions, the Government and HA have no right to interfere with the commercial decisions of Link. According to information provided by LandsD, land leases granted by the Government to HA, with the commercial facilities and car parks subsequently divested by HA to Link, contain restrictions on the number of parking spaces to be provided and the types of vehicles to be parked in the relevant lots. Generally speaking, land leases contain provisions stipulating that the parking spaces shall only be used for the parking of vehicles of the residents and visitors of the lots in question. Individual land leases may also stipulate that some of the parking spaces shall be provided for the parking of vehicles of the residents or visitors of other specified lots to cater for local residents' needs for car-parking. Nevertheless, land leases generally do not restrict the mode of operation of the car parks, such as letting of the parking spaces on an hourly or monthly basis. Neither the Government nor HA has obtained or kept information on the number of monthly and hourly parking spaces under Link. In light of the question from Member, we have checked public documents published in the website of Link but there is no such information.
Due to time constraints, LandsD is unable to examine the 180 land leases of all the commercial and car-parking facilities divested by HA to Link in 2005 to find out the total number of parking spaces in car parks under Link which can be used to park vehicles belonging to non-residents of the respective estates. However, detailed provisions of the land leases of the estates or courts concerned can be obtained by land searches at the Land Registry.
As for monitoring whether the lessees (including Link) complies with the lease conditions on the provision of parking spaces, given the huge number of private land leases and considering constraints in manpower resources, it is neither possible nor cost-effective for LandsD and its District Lands Offices to conduct regular inspections of all private land. Therefore, LandsD mainly acts on complaints, referrals or enquiries, and where necessary, inspects black spots with frequent breaches of leases. Managers of the Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC) are tasked to enforce provisions under the DMC, which include compliance with land lease conditions.
Since the divestment of the car parks to Link in 2005, if Link, as the owner of those car parks, finds it necessary to deviate from provisions of the land leases and let its car-parking spaces to non-residents, or to convert the use of some of its surplus car-parking spaces for parking other types of vehicles, it can apply to the Town Planning Board (TPB) for planning permissions and LandsD for temporary waivers to vary the lease provisions concerned respectively, in accordance with the prevailing legislation and relevant procedures. According to information provided by LandsD, Link has made a total of 122 applications for temporary waivers in relation to car parks, the bulk of which involve changing the numbers and types of parking spaces to be provided, and allowing some of the parking spaces to be used by non-residents of the respective estates or by those not specified in the land leases. Link subsequently withdrew 21 of the applications. As at February 2016, the remaining 101 applications for temporary waivers had been approved by LandsD to cater for the actual circumstances in order to make good use of the vacant parking spaces. LandsD processed the waiver applications in accordance with the established procedures, which include consulting relevant government departments such as the District Offices concerned, Planning Department, Transport Department and Housing Department. Among the 101 temporary waivers, 27 waivers allow the parking of vehicles of non-residents of the respective estates or vehicles of those persons not specified in the land leases on the surplus parking spaces. A total of 319 parking spaces (296 motor-cycle parking spaces, 22 goods vehicle parking spaces and one private car-parking space) were involved. The total sum of waiver fees paid by Link in 2015 for these 27 temporary waivers (which involves the parking of vehicles belonging to non-residents of the respective estates) was about $4 million. The waiver fees include the fees payable to the Government for the relaxation of restrictions under these 27 waivers, i.e. changes to the numbers and types of parking spaces and allowing non-residents of the respective estates or those not specified in the land leases to use the parking spaces. Due to time constraints, LandsD is unable to provide a yearly breakdown of the number of temporary waivers granted in respect of car parks under Link and the total amount of waiver fees since 2005.
Ends/Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:19
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