Hong Kong consumer watchdog receives over 750 complaints about property purchases in Greater Bay Area in 3 years
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has received more than 750 complaints from the city’s residents relating to property purchases in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) over the past three years.
Clement Chan, chair of Hong Kong’s Consumer Council, told journalists on Wednesday that 709 cases – more than 90 per cent of the complaints – involved Hong Kong properties, while 20 involved properties in Zhuhai and 10 in Huizhou – both cities in neighbouring Guangdong province.
One complaint was about a residential property in Hengqin, an island in Zhuhai, which was purchased in 2019 for RMB 2.33 million (HK$ 2.50 million) – the most expensive case reported to the Consumer Council, Chan said.
The complainant said the developer postponed the delivery date by three months, citing the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. They also said that the developer failed to deliver the renovations specified in the contract and the property had no water supply.
The complainant later signed an agreement with the developer to cancel the purchase, but failed to get a refund.
Gilly Wong, chief executive of the Consumer Council, said they referred some of the complaints to consumer organisations in mainland China.
The Consumer Council did not specify in detail the complaints about the properties in Hong Kong.
HKFP contacted the watchdog for more information.
Online platform
The Consumer Council also announced on Wednesday the launch of an online platform to provide some guidelines for buying a property in GBA.
The platform, currently only available in Chinese, gives information on procedures to buy properties, laws and regulations, as well as mortgage policies in Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities in GBA.
Chan reminded consumers to select developers with good reputations and to carefully review contracts before purchasing any properties.
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