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Property News Weekly Digest
2021/6/12
〈Asian Post, June 12, 2021〉‘Very generous’ provision will allow holders of special visa to access public funds should they suffer extreme poverty after making their move

London will allow Hongkongers holding the new British National (Overseas) visa to start applying this month for social housing or homelessness assistance if they are suffering extreme poverty after relocating, but say they still need to go through the process the "same way as anyone else".

The new regulations for accessing housing support – taking effect on June 29 – expand on earlier changes to immigration rules permitting destitute BN(O) holders to apply for access to public funds in Britain through a change in their visa conditions.

New arrivals from Hong Kong with neither jobs nor credit history have reported struggling with renting homes in Britain, where landlords tend to thoroughly screen prospective tenants. Many landlords request those without the right documents to pay between six and 12 months’ rent upfront, according to civic organisations in Britain.

〈Asian Post, June 11, 2021〉Mainland shareholder of vaccine maker forks out huge sum for spot at Mount Nicholson

A wealthy shareholder in vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise has paid HK$10.11 million for a parking space at the exclusive Mount Nicholson on The Peak.

The identity of the shareholder, Qiu Mingjing, was revealed by records filed to the Land Registry yesterday, two days after it emerged that textile tycoon Poon Ho-tak paid a record HK$11.9 million for a parking space at the development.

Qiu is a big investor in Hong Kong property. Last year, she bought a 4,596 sq ft flat at Mount Nicholson for HK$533 million, or HK$116,000 per square foot.

Last month she spent HK$240 million on nine units at the Southland project at Wong Chuk Hang station, the first residential project to be built on top of an MTR station on Hong Kong Island in three decades.

Qiu is the sixth-largest shareholder of Shanghai-listed Beijing Wantai with 4.8 million shares, or a 1.1 per cent stake, according to the firm’s 2020 annual report. Her shares would be worth 1.2 billion yuan (HK$1.46 billion) at yesterday’s closing price of 252.10 yuan.

〈China Daily, June 10, 2021〉Luxury penthouse sells for HK$201.47 million in first foray into city state’s high-end home market

Shun Tak Holdings, one of the flagship companies controlled by the clan that dominates Macau’s gambling industry, has smashed Singapore’s price record for luxury homes with its high-profile entry into the city state’s high-end property market.

Park Nova, a collection of 54 apartments in a high-rise tower about 10 minutes’ walk from the Orchard Road shopping belt, set a record when a 5,899 sq ft penthouse sold for S$34.38 million (HK$201.47 million). Translating to HK$33,800 per square foot, the duplex – the largest of three penthouse units – features five bedrooms, a family room and study.

"We see the robust economic development [in Singapore] and talents in technology and finance sectors have been lured to the city on back of the government’s favouring policies," Shun Tak’s executive chairman and chief executive Pansy Ho Chiu-king said. "Thus there is an increasing demand in the high-end housing market for the scores of professionals."

〈The Standard, June 9, 2021〉China Overseas Land and Investment (0688) has received presale consent for One Victoria in Kai Tak and expects it to be the first residential project to go on sale on the former Kai Tak airport runway.

The developer expects to release the sales brochure for the 1,059-flat project next week.

The project sits in Kai Tak Area 4B Site 2, which has a site area of 97,392 sq ft and a maximum gross floor area of 594,082 sq ft. China Overseas won the tender for the residential plot for HK$8.03 billion, or HK$13,523 per buildable sq ft in December 2018.

Two years later in December 2020, the state-run mainland developer also won the tender for another residential plot, Kai Tak Area 4E Site 1, for HK$4.27 billion.

Meanwhile, stamp duty collected from property transactions surged by 62.1 percent month-on-month to about HK$1.41 billion last month, hitting a half-year high, data from the Inland Revenue Department showed.

〈The Standard, June 8, 2021〉Luxury brands and hotels have shifted their focus from Hong Kong to the mainland as the Covid-19 pandemic causes devastating disruptions to the travel and hospitality industry across the world, leading to unprecedented economic and social consequences.

In Hong Kong, inbound tourism plunged 94.3 percent in the first year of the pandemic, with the city seeing only 1.4 million international overnight visitors. The occupancy rate in hotels also slipped by 50 percent to a mere 24 percent.

Amid the gloomy market situation, some hoteliers are rethinking their business strategies to offer long-term stays, while others are finding other uses for their properties, such as transforming them into coworking spaces or residential developments.

Given the poor market environment, many hotel operators have put their opening plans on hold. But some operators, including InterContinental Hong Kong, Kings Hotel and Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, took advantage of this opportunity to renovate or rebrand their hotels - a move that could help increase revenue in the long run.