URA’s Subsidised Sale Flat Scheme Units at Kai Tak development open for application

The Subsidised Sale Flat (SSF) Scheme of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA),  a self-developed project at Kai Tak, is now open to eligible persons for application starting tomorrow (5 January 2016).  Application will be closed on 21 January 2016.

In compliance with the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance, the URA uploaded the sales brochure and the price list for the SSF Scheme to the Kai Tak development website and the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Electronic Platform on 9 December 2015 and 4 January 2016 respectively.  

The URA Board approved to sell a total of 338 units in the URA's Kai Tak development as SSF in response to the policy initiative of the Chief Executive to increase the supply of subsidised sale flats as announced in the 2015 Policy Address. Details and principal terms of the SSF Scheme have been approved by the URA Board in December 2015. The SSF Scheme units range from 332 square feet to 568 square feet in saleable area, comprising eight studio flats, 213 one-bedroom and 117 two-bedroom units. The price list of all the SSF Scheme units is set after a 20% discount to the market value of the units, assessed with a valuation date of 18 December 2015. The selling price (after a 20% discount) ranges from about $3.411 million to $6.627 million, or at a range of $9,734 to $12,414 per square foot in saleable area.

Speaking at a media briefing today, the Executive Director (Commercial) of the URA, Mr Pius Cheng, said: "The SSF Scheme units at the URA's Kai Tak development aims at helping single person households (SPH) and two persons or above households (MPH) of middle income group with home purchase. The development is near to its completion. After the closing of the application period, balloting in around March 2016 and the screening of applicants, the selection and sale of SSF Scheme units will take place in around the middle of this year. It is anticipated that the successful applicants can move in during the third quarter of 2016."   

Both SPH and MPH are eligible to apply for the SSF Scheme units. All family members listed in the application form of MPH must be immediate family members of the applicant. Immediate family members include spouse of applicant, parents, children, grandparents and siblings of the applicant or his/her spouse.  All family members included in the application form of MPH must be living with the applicant.

The income limit for SPH is not more than $33,500 per month, while the asset limit for SPH is not more than $1.5 million. For MPH, the total household income and the total asset limits of the applicant and his/her immediate family members listed in the MPH application form are not more than HK$60,000 per month and not more than HK$3 million respectively. Other eligibility criteria for the SSF Scheme include the following:

• The applicant must be aged 18 or over;
• The applicant must be having resided in Hong Kong for at least seven years and his/her stay in Hong Kong is not subject to any conditions of stay;
• The applicant and all family members included in the MPH application form must not have owned any residential properties in Hong Kong in the past 60 months; 
• The applicant and all family members included in the MPH application form must not have enjoyed or are not enjoying any housing subsidy offered by the Government or other relevant organisations as specified in the application guide.

The URA has reserved all two-bedroom units in the SSF Scheme for the purchase by MPH applicants. In other words, SPH applicants are restricted to purchase the eight studio or 213 one-bedroom units only, while MPH applicants are allowed to purchase any of the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.

The URA plans to conduct the computer balloting process to determine the sequence for flat selection in March 2016. The Hong Kong Housing Society has been commissioned by the URA to carry out the screening process. The URA will invite eligible applicants for flat selection according to the order of priority determined by the computer balloting. The sales arrangement for the selection and sale of SSF Scheme units will be uploaded on the Kai Tak development website at www.urakaitak.hk after the announcement of the balloting results. The sale of SSF Scheme units is expected to be completed in around the middle of this year. 

Any assignment, mortgage, letting of the SSF Scheme Units will be subject to the restrictions as provided in the Land Grant of the URA's Kai Tak Development. Before paying the premium to the URA, the purchaser is prohibited from selling, letting, mortgaging (except for financing the purchase from the URA) the SSF Scheme unit or assigning or transferring his/her interest in the unit in any form.

Within the first two years from the date of the assignment, if the purchaser wishes to sell his/her SSF Scheme unit, the purchaser must first offer to sell it to the URA at the original purchase price and should the URA choose not to purchase it, the purchaser may then sell it in the open market after paying the premium to the URA. The premium is calculated based on the prevailing market value of the flat at the time of sale by the purchaser multiplied by the discount rate of the market value of the flat at the time of sale by URA to the purchaser.

Interested parties may obtain the application forms for the URA's SSF Scheme from the following places: (i) the SSF Scheme's Sales Office on the ground floor of No. 6 Fuk Tsun Street in Tai Kok Tsui; (ii) the URA Headquarters in Sheung Wan; and (iii) the Public Enquiry Service Centers at District Offices. The Sales Office will be open to the public on Monday to Sunday (9 am to 6 pm) during the application period.  Applicants can also download the application forms from the Kai Tak development's website: www.urakaitak.hk. All duly completed and signed application forms together with an application fee of $200 in the form of crossed cheque or cashier order made payable to "Urban Renewal Authority" should be returned to the URA by mail to the "Subsidised Sale Flat Scheme Units" Applications Processing Section, G.P.O. Box 8840 on or before the closing date of application on 21 January 2016.  Interested parties are urged to read the application guide for the URA's SSF Scheme carefully before completing the application forms. Members of the public can also obtain details of the SSF Scheme from an enquiry service hotline at 2784 6838, which operates on Monday to Friday (9 am to 5:30 pm) and Saturday (9 am to 12:30 pm).

The URA will open 32 flats in different flat layouts and different floors in different blocks for public viewing at the URA's Kai Tak development from tomorrow (5 January) to 21 January 2016.  There will be another round of viewing of units by eligible applicants selected for the sale of SSF Scheme units on the date of sale, which is planned to take place in around the middle of this year.

Occupying a site of about 61,290 square feet, the URA's development at Kai Tak consists of three high blocks (H1, H2, H3) and one low block (L1) of residential buildings, providing 484 flats with saleable area ranging from about 332 to 675 square feet, of which 338 are selected for the SSF Scheme, and 146 flats to be sold under the Flat-For-Flat Scheme. There is a commercial block of about 6,140 square feet in the URA's Kai Tak development. The development adopts a modest and sustainable design approach and has achieved the BEAM Plus Provisional 'Platinum' rating from the Hong Kong Green Building Council.  

(ENDS)