The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) announced today (March 22) that eligible applicants may submit applications for the purchase of Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2017 from March 30 to April 12, 2017. Application forms, application guides, and sales booklets of the HOS developments concerned will be available starting tomorrow (March 23).

     Virtual show flat walkthrough videos and "doll houses" using the building information modelling technique, building models and exhibition panels providing information on Choi Hing Court in Kwun Tong, Ngan Wai Court and Ngan Ho Court in Mui Wo, Lantau Island will be displayed at the HA Customer Service Centre (HACSC) in Lok Fu from 8am to 7pm every day between tomorrow and April 12.
 
     Rescinded flats from five HOS developments (i.e. Mei Ying Court and Mei Pak Court in Sha Tin, Sheung Chui Court in Tsuen Wan, Ching Chun Court in Tsing Yi and Wang Fu Court in Yuen Long) previously put up for sale in the Sale of HOS Flats 2014 will also be offered for sale this time.

     Apart from the 36 rescinded flats already in hand up to early February 2017, if there are other flats rescinded from the five developments up to June this year, they will also be included for sale in the exercise. Videos showing the interior of typical flats will be provided at the HACSC and uploaded to the HA/Housing Department's website sometime in June for the information of prospective buyers and the public.

     The HA will adopt a two-stage approach for the distribution of sales materials to the public and prospective purchasers.

     From March 23 to April 12, sales booklets with basic and essential information of the HOS developments and price ranges will be made available to the public for consideration for application.

     "Before the flat selection period commences, hard copies of the sales brochures and price lists for flats of the three new HOS developments and rescinded flats from five HOS developments will also be made available for public collection at the HACSC, while electronic copies will be uploaded to the designated websites for the respective HOS developments. Upon passing detailed eligibility vetting, successful applicants can collect/browse the detailed sales information at the above place or from the websites," the spokesman said.

     Apart from the HACSC, application forms, application guides and sales booklets can also be obtained during office hours from the Estate Offices and District Tenancy Management Offices of the HA, Rental Estate Offices of the Hong Kong Housing Society, the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department and the Sham Shui Po Housing Information Centre.

     "Members of the public are also encouraged to make good use of the website for the Sale of HOS Flats 2017 (www.housingauthority.gov.hk/hos/2017) where they can browse the necessary sales materials and view the virtual show flat walk-through videos. Balloting is expected to be held in June 2017 to determine the order of detailed eligibility vetting of the applicants, and successful applicants will be invited for flat selection starting from August 2017 according to their priority order," the spokesman said.

     "The application period will run from March 30 until 7pm on April 12, 2017. Applications submitted before the application period or after the closing time will not be accepted," the spokesman added.

     Members of the public may visit the HACSC from 8am to 7pm during the application period or call the HA's 24-hour Sales Hotline on 2712 8000 on application matters for the HOS developments.

     In addition, the spokesman said, "All the 857 flats under the Sale of Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme (GSH) – King Tai Court were sold out by February 20. We expect to be able to inform the buyers individually to execute the assignments starting from mid-May. All the assignment executions are expected to be completed by the end of June.

     "Up till today, five rescinded flats have been recovered since the end of the flat selection period. Since there are still more than three months ahead before all the buyers complete the execution of assignments, we cannot rule out the possibility of having more rescinded flats in the days to come," the spokesman said.
 
     As such, the HA has decided to resell all rescinded flats of King Tai Court in one go at end-June (i.e. after completion of the assignments by all buyers) until the commencement of flat selection under the Sale of HOS Flats 2017 (expected to be in August 2017). Eligible applicants under the "other family" application category of the GSH will be invited to select the rescinded flats based on the ballot results and the order generated by computer in December last year.

     "The end of the flat selection period for King Tai Court (i.e. February 20, 2017) is very close to the completion of the development (expected to be in mid-May 2017). If we can resell these completed flats early, it will help meet the home ownership aspiration of the applicants and avoid leaving the flats vacant for too long, which would be a waste of resources," the spokesman added.

Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:55

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