Homes battle deadline extended
Property buyers who found their Tseung Kwan O flats did not measure up were yesterday given two more weeks to decide if they would accept a compensation package.
The Housing Society had given buyers of the 1,894 flats in Verbena Heights six weeks to decide if they would rescind their purchase after a majority of the properties were found to have been wrongly measured.
But the deadline was yesterday extended until December 30 after 188 buyers said they could not make up their minds.
The housing body offered to buy back the properties at the original price. Legal fees and stamp duty would also be repaid if they chose to cancel their purchase before yesterday's deadline.
So far, about 180 buyers have decided to rescind the purchase agreements by selling them back to the Housing Society at the original price. About 100 families chose to rent the flats, ranging from $2,900 to $5,600 per month, instead.
The rest have accepted the compensation, which totalled more than $30 million, and have gone ahead with the purchase.
Residents started moving into the flats in September but about 1,500 households were later informed they had paid the wrong price as architects had failed to take into account the changing widths of an external wall when measuring the size of the flats.
Other housing scheme flats will be offered to buyers who wish to exchange for a bigger flat.
The rest will be offered for re-application at the Home Ownership Scheme application centre.
