ABSTRACT
Before the commencement of the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance in April 2013, developers used to provide three quotations on the floor area of a new residential flat: the saleable area, the unit covered area and the gross floor area. Research on the Consent Scheme expressed the view that with a standard definition on the saleable area and the requirement for developers to calculate the price per sq. ft. with reference to saleable area, the pressure for a standardized definition of gross floor area might have eased. This chapter concludes by explaining transparency cannot be achieved by eliminating a vital indicator of floor area from the sales literature in the risk of violating an invested constitutional right. Rather, to achieve transparency and more importantly to deter developers from building 'shrinking flats', the legislation should provide statutory definitions for both saleable area and gross floor area, and, most ideally, a minimum efficient ratio that every new residential unit must meet.
