ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two critical aspects relating to the time dimension of a first-hand residential unit, in particular of an uncompleted flat: the date of completion and the lease term. In an off-plan sale, the word completion refers to at least two significant events. Firstly, it could mean the completion of the development, and secondly, the completion of the transaction. To distinguish the two events, the Law Reform Commission (1995) used construction completion and legal completion respectively in its 1995 Report on Description of Flats on Sale. The focus of this chapter revolves around construction completion, viz., the physical completion of the property: what is the standard against which a development can be fairly considered as having been completed, or completely constructed? After exploring various physical aspects of the residential unit, the chapter introduces a new dimension to the discussion: the time dimension of a residential unit in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
