The proposals were laid down in the commission's report entitled "Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong's Report on Local Completed Residential Properties." The report called on the government to perfect sales descriptions and other pre-contractual arrangements relating to the sale of completed residential properties in Hong Kong.

Speaking in a news conference, Kennedy Wong Ying Ho, the chairman of the commission's Description of Flats on Sale Sub-committee, said a Vendor's Information Form is proposed for the vendor to disclose various particulars of the unit offered for sale in the second-hand market.

"This would include details such as the salable area, the level of management fees and the particular services available. A vendor would be required to make the form available when his unit is put on the market for sale, whether or not this was done through an estate agent," he said.

Wong said the report also recommends a cooling-off period of three working days for both the vendor and the purchaser in the sale of second-hand completed flats.

He explained that as there may be circumstances where a purchaser is persuaded to enter into a contract against his better judgment by an aggressive estate agent or vendor, the provision of a cooling-off period would allow the purchaser to withdraw from the preliminary agreement if he subsequently considered it not to be in his best interests to complete the transaction.

"The party making use of the cooling-off period to cancel the preliminary agreement would be liable to forfeiture of a specified percentage of the purchase price. This forfeiture provision would work as an effective deterrent to potential speculative activities," he said.

The proposed measures and law will be considered by the HKSAR government for drafting the related bills to be tabled at the HKSAR Legislative Council.

(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2002)