QUESTION NO. 3
Reply by the Hon. D.P.H. Liao, CBE, JP, Secretary for District Administration, to the Hon. Jackie Chan's Question
in Legislative Council on Wednesday, 13 November 1985
QUESTION
Sir,
As the real estate market is becoming more active, will Government inform this Council whether there are plans to draw up a standard deed of mutual covenant, in both Chinese and English, for newly constructed buildings, so that consumers may understand clearly its contents, the rights which they would enjoy and their responsibilities?
The Government does not have plans to introduce
a standard Deed of Mutual Covenant. This is because a
standardised deed will not be sufficiently flexible to cater for the many and varied circumstances for different
kinds of building development.
However, after extensive consultations with all
District Boards and various related professional bodies, a number of "standard clauses" are being drawn up, instead,
for inclusion in Deeds of Mutual Covenant. It is intended
that as a first step, deeds arising from new non-industrial leasehold grants will be required to contain these clauses.
The purpose of these clauses is to provide protection for individual buyers in several fundamental areas relating to building management and common areas, as well as to provide a clear frame-work for effective management of the building. They also set out clearly the relationship, rights, and responsibilities of developers, management agents and individual owners with respect to
the day-to-day management of property.
/At