received careful study both within and outside Government, but it has so far not been possible to implement even a modified version of the Working Party's proposals on factoring. The subject was referred to by the Colonial Secretary in the Budget Debate, where he said-
'The crux of the problem has been the need for some organization to undertake the work of statutory factors required to intervene in circumstances where voluntary factoring had broken down. We have been unable to find any qualified local bodies outside Government which would be interested in this work and it has proved equally difficult to foresee the day by which Government itself could organize the training and recruitment of the specialist staff needed for this work. 'We are now examining the limited possibility, at least, of encourag- ing voluntary factoring by giving private management committees or managers appointed by flat owners in sub-divided buildings the legal powers with which to carry out their work.'
Sale of Flats in Uncompleted Buildings
44. The Conditions of Sale of new lots and Exclusion Orders made under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance (Cap. 255) after 20th December 1961 contain clauses prohibiting the owners from entering into agreements for the sale of units in uncompleted buildings without the prior consent of the Registrar General and then only in conformity with any conditions imposed by him. During the year 357 applications for such consent were received, and 246 were approved on certain conditions. 10 applications were withdrawn and 191 were pending at the end of the year.
45. While many of these applications were of a fairly straightforward character many were not, for some developers put forward schemes that required close study in the interests of the prospective purchasers whose money was going to be used for the cor uction of the building. Owing to the continued shortage of Legal Assistants until late in the year delays in dealing with applications were inevitable, and as all were dealt with in strict order of priority the straightforward cases suffered equally with the more complicated ones. This gave rise to considerable public criticism, and in order to cope with the continued increase in the number of applications and to reduce the delays, a new procedure was towards the end of the year being studied in conjunction with the Law Society.
46. Under the new procedure the Solicitor acting for the developer will make a statutory declaration setting out certain facts in relation to the proposed development, and this will be registered in the Land
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