The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will increase fees for five types of land registration services in three phases through the 2025-26 to 2027-28 financial years, with the increases ranging from around 15 percent to 35 percent in each phase.
The scope of fee adjustments will cover registration of instruments, including assignment and mortgage; registration of agreement for sale and purchase; lease registration, agreement, renewal and surrender; registration of other instruments; and registration of instruments whereby any charge or mortgage on any share or interest in a property is assigned or transferred.
"The above-mentioned five types of fees have not been adjusted for almost 30 years and are significantly under-recovered,” said a government spokesman.
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The amendment regulation, published in the Government Gazette on Friday, will be tabled in the Legislative Council on Wednesday for its approval by negative vetting, the government said in a statement.
Thereafter, the revised fees will come into effect in three phases from July 16 of this year, July 1 in 2026, and July 1 in 2027.
The fees were reviewed and adjusted in accordance with an established mechanism and the “user pays” principle, and have been set at levels considered generally adequate for recovering the full costs of providing the services.
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“After the fee revisions, the increase in registration fees is still limited compared with the overall costs involved in a typical property conveyancing transaction including property price, stamp duty, and fees for conveyancing solicitors and estate agents,” the spokesman said.
The payers of the other three types of non-conveyancing-related registration fees are primarily corporate clients and financial institutions, the spokesman said, adding that the government expects the impact of the fee revisions will be manageable to them.
