People wearing a face mask walk on a street at Causeway Bay shopping district in Hong Kong, Feb 18, 2022. (VINCENT YU / AP)
HONG KONG - A temporary law has been proposed to prohibit landlords from terminating contracts with tenancies in specified sectors who fail to pay rent on time, in the hope of providing short-term protection to tenants in specified sectors struggling under the pandemic, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday.
Hong Kong is at an exceptional time. We hope landlords and tenants can ride out the storm together and work things out by negotiation.
Paul Chan, HK financial secretary
The short-term protection for commercial tenants will be valid for three months, with a maximum extension of three months depending on the prevailing economic situation, during which landlords may demand rent from tenants, but are not allowed to take legal action against commercial tenants such as closing the shop to apply for liquidation or winding-up.
“Hong Kong is at an exceptional time. We hope landlords and tenants can ride out the storm together and work things out by negotiation,” Chan said.
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The city has been suffering from a fifth wave of COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the year, with daily cases soaring to record levels, threatening the health and safety of the population and dealing a serious blow to the city’s economic activity and social functioning.
On Wednesday, 8,674 new COVID-19 cases were reported – another record high.
Chan noted that landlords could rest assured that if they face difficulties with mortgage repayments due to a reduction in rental income, that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will be in close communication with banks to exercise flexibility.
Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po holds a press conference at the Central Government Offices in Hong Kong, Feb 23, 2022. (PHOTO/HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
Meanwhile, the government is endeavoring to release more land for housing. Sufficient land has been made available in the current financial year to build around 20,000 flats – 7,000 more than the original target, according to the financial secretary.
For the coming financial year, Chan said that 13 residential and four commercial sites are planned for the new Land Sale Programme, which is expected to produce about 8,000 residential units and about 300,000 square meters of commercial floor space respectively.
The potential land supply from the Land Sale Programme for residential sites, together with railway property development and new flats from private developers and the Urban Renewal Authority, is expected to yield about 18,000 new flats for the year.
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The government has also identified land sufficient to provide over 17,000 transitional housing units. So far, about 2,300 units are already in use, and another 4,200 units are under construction. About 11,000 apartments are expected to be completed this year, Chan added.
