The Urban Renewal Authority will implement a package of additional measures to further enhance the sale transparency of its redevelopment projects, taking into consideration genuine homebuyers' needs.

At a media briefing today, authority chairman Barry Cheung said introducing the eight new measures will enhance its flat-sale mechanism.

"These additional measures are introduced by [the authority] with a view to enhancing fair play of its property sales, facilitating opportunities to the end-users, tightening representation by its joint venture partners, and ensuring disclosure and transparency of transacted sales," he said.

More control

The new measures are:

* no internal sale by the authority's joint venture developer. Only open sale will be conducted;

* flats selected by the joint venture developer for the first batch offered for sale must be agreed to by the authority;

* staff members of the property agents and sub-agents engaged in marketing units of the joint-venture developer's project cannot buy these units throughout the sale period;

* the first batch of units offered for sale will be sold to people and not companies;

* no more than 10% of flats in a project will be sold to companies;

* no more than two units will be sold to the same buyer;

* prior to the signing of preliminary agreements for sale and purchase, written declaration to the authority will be made by the joint-venture developer in respect of any proposed purchase by its board members, senior executives, the board members and senior executives of its holding company, and their connections; and,

* sales-related information - including a full record of all units sold, all price lists and all transactions by the above people relating to the joint venture developer - will be disclosed on the developer's website and displayed at sales offices throughout the sale period.