The Office of the Government Spokesperson holds a press conference to explain Government proposals following the Court of Final Appeal's ruling on Pearl Horizon case.
The Government has proposed to use former Pearl Horizon plot to provide interim housing primary for those affected by the redevelopment of the city’s old districts under the existing urban renewal plan.
The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, said today that a portion of the housing units planned for the site would be reserved for eligible buyers of units in the unfinished Pearl Horizon project, which plot was reverted to the administration.
The Court of Final Appeal today ruled against Polytex Corporation Ltd, the developer of Pearl Horizon, regarding a Government decision to revert to the administration the land previously granted for the housing project. The company was challenging an Executive Order dated 26 January 2016 declaring void the land concession of Pearl Horizon following its expiry on 25 December 2015.
The Office of the Government Spokesperson today held a press conference to detail the Government’s proposals to offer assistance to the buyers of the unfinished flats in Pearl Horizon.
Secretary Chan stressed the Government had no financial obligations and responsibilities to those buyers. Nonetheless, the Government – as pledged previously – would provide them with adequate protection and assistance out of good intention under the premise of legality.
Following today’s court decision, the Government announced it would return the stamp duty levied on transactions involving the unfinished flats of Pearl Horizon. The decision covered a total of 3,480 property sales and aggregate tax revenue of 602 million patacas.
Pre-sale contracts between Pearl Horizon homebuyers and the developer are a civil law matter. Any disputes will have to be handled through the judiciary system should the involved parties fail to reach an agreement. The Government will also offer legal assistance to affected homebuyers should they decide to pursue the matter with Polytex Corporation Ltd.
While preparing its proposal to address the Pearl Horizon case, the Government had to take into account a number of issues, including: public interest; matters related to the regime overseeing pre-sale of housing units; and the fact that interim housing was a type of public housing designed to support those temporarily affected by the redevelopment of the city’s old districts under the urban renewal plan.
The Government hoped using interim housing units could help satisfy the housing needs of Pearl Horizon homebuyers and help improve their living quality, said Ms Chan.
Only individuals are eligible for the interim scheme proposed by the Government; companies that might have acquired residential units in Pearl Horizon are excluded. Each buyer of an unfinished Pearl Horizon apartment is only eligible to acquire one interim housing unit, even if that buyer had acquired two or more units in Pearl Horizon (couples are considered as one buyer). In the case of groups of two or more individuals that acquired housing units in Pearl Horizon, they are eligible to buy interim housing units in a quantity not exceeding the number of flats they originally had bought in Pearl Horizon.
The price per square metre to be paid for an interim housing unit will be similar to that recorded in the pre-sale contract of the respective Pearl Horizon flat, as registered with the Government. The interim housing unit offered to each affected buyer will be similar in size to the one the buyer had originally acquired in Pearl Horizon.
Pearl Horizon homebuyers would be granted ownership rights of their units should they decide to acquire an interim housing unit, said Ms Chan.
She added the Government planned to conduct a public consultation on the interim housing system during the third quarter this year, in order to collect views from the public on the matter.
The Government would start demolition work on the Pearl Horizon land – also known as Lot P – once the reversion process was completed. The plot is located in the northeast part of Areia Preta and covers an area of 68,000 square metres. Its development would be in line with the Urban Planning Law and would be discussed by the Urban Planning Committee, said the Director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Mr Li Canfeng, during today’s press conference.
Current plans for the plot include housing units, commercial areas, public facilities – such as a wet market and a healthcare centre – and community facilities, such as an elderly care centre and a kindergarten.