Business Sector Lawmakers Blast Vacancy Tax Plan

Several lawmakers representing the business sector have expressed staunch opposition to introducing a tax on property developers who leave completed flats idle instead of selling them.

Answering a question at Legco's weekly council meeting, Housing secretary Frank Chan said the government is carefully considering whether a vacant property tax is needed, as there is a rising trend of completed private flats left unsold.

Some 9,000 completed private flats remain unsold in Hong Kong, of which two-thirds were completed last year or in the first quarter of this year.

Real estate sector lawmaker Abraham Shek said these figures are misleading. He blamed slow government approvals for many new flats not going onto the market.

"When flats are empty, there are a number of reasons. When the government's occupation permits are not given on time, when the certificate of compliance is taking a long time to be issued ... those are the flats that are lying empty," Shek said.

He also noted that some of the flats have been put up for rent, and aren’t left idle.

Jeffrey Lam from the Business and Professionals Alliance questioned if the introduction of a vacancy tax would go against Hong Kong’s free market principle. He also doubted if such a tax is necessary, saying the vacancy rate of private homes was just 3.7 percent as of the end of last year.

The Civic Party, which has been pushing for the vacancy tax, meanwhile slammed the government for its slow progress on the issue.

Legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok said there are nearly 10,000 flats lying empty right now and any action to tackle this would not have any bearing on free market principles.