"governmnet lease"

Posted by kitty (14 days ago)

i've noticed a few people mention "government leases" on properties. is this the norm in HK? Are all the builidings here not FREEHOLD?

Posted by cara (14 days ago)

there is only ONE property in hk that is freehold. that is St John's Cathedral in Central. ALL other properties are leaseholds, with a long-tenure lease.

Posted by kitty (14 days ago)

Thanks, Cara. please excuse my ignorance :) I did ask a real estate agent and she said the building i was looking at was freehold. i presume she didn't know what i was talking about!
How long are the leases for? Are they all 100 yrs? Does it mean that if you buy a place that is 40 yrs old, you only 'own' it for 60 years .. then the govt gets it?

Posted by TC Ng (14 days ago)

Cara is correct. All leases vary so it will depend on what building you are looking at. It is unlikely that once your lease is up that the govt will take it back. Two recent cases you may want to check out are Fulham Gardens and The Belchers. Both buildings recently renewed their leases. The Belchers although fairly new took over an existing lease. The instance where you may be affected is if you are applying for a mortgage on a building where the lease has just a few years to run. The uncertainly of what may happen may effect your application, although this did not seem to be so in the case of The Belchers.

Posted by Trici (13 days ago)

All the answers you got so far is correct. It may be helpful if you know that most of the lands in Kowloon and NT got the leases renewed by operation of law i.e. the Govt passes the law effecting the renewal rather than renewing property by property. Refer to Section 4 & 5 of the Government Leases (Renewable) Ordinance (Cap 40 of The Laws of Hong Kong) and New Territories Leases (Extension) Ordinance (Cap.150). Lands in New Territores with Government Leases expiring on or before 30the June 1997 were effectively renewed up to 2047. Hope this helps.