When a marriage ends, the flat is usually the largest asset and the hardest to divide. This guide explains what the Hong Kong court can order, why the mortgage lender is not bound by it, and how stamp duty and registration fit in.
Most owners believe a managing agent they are unhappy with can only be replaced once its contract happens to lapse. The Building Management Ordinance actually gives owners a specific, timetabled route to force the issue — here is how it works, step by step.
A plain-English guide to how a Hong Kong building forms an Owners’ Corporation, what it can and cannot decide on its own, and the tougher attendance and voting thresholds now proposed for big-ticket maintenance works.
Water seepage is the most common dispute between Hong Kong neighbours. Here is how to work out who is responsible, which office or professional can help, and what it actually costs in time, money and legal exposure to leave it unresolved.
Handing a flat to a spouse, child or sibling in Hong Kong is not a stamp-duty-free event just because no cash changes hands. Here is how the duty, the concession for close relatives, and the paperwork actually work.
Hong Kong has no statutory definition of a stigmatised flat and no duty on a vendor to volunteer one. This guide sets out what the law actually requires, how to put the question early enough for the answer to matter, and why the real obstacle is not a discounted valuation but a bank that simply declines to lend.
Hong Kong law lets someone else sign your purchase documents — but only if the power of attorney is the right kind, drafted tightly, and authenticated in a form Hong Kong will accept. A guide to the types of power and what they must contain, what the donor and the attorney each take on, how long it takes to put one in place, and where overseas buyers get stuck on the mortgage.
A Hong Kong flat usually sits under three separate insurance policies arranged by three different parties — and the two compulsory ones exist to protect somebody other than the owner. Here is what each layer covers, and where the gaps sit.
In Hong Kong a seller must prove ownership document by document, not simply assert it. This guide explains what a good title is, how requisitions and the rescission clause work, which defects most often derail a sale, and what buyers and sellers should settle before signing.
Roughly 22,000 of Hong Kong’s catalogued man-made slopes are maintained by private owners rather than the Government, and the obligation travels with the land. Here is where the liability comes from, what it costs to discharge, and how to check it before you sign.