The Court of Appeal today granted leave for Lo Siu-lan to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal on the substantive question of whether the Housing Ordinance empowers the Housing Authority to divest itself of its retail and car parking facilities.

The authority looks forward to obtaining legal finality on this important issue as soon as practicable.

The Court of Appeal today also rejected Lo's application for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal concerning the court orders on December 15 last year, to abridge her appeal period and expedite the appeal hearing.

The authority said it looks forward to an early conclusion of the judicial review proceedings and to legal finality on its power to divest, so that the initial public offering of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust can be re-launched as soon as practicable.