Property ordinances and first-hand sales

The other ordinances an estate agent works under: the Conveyancing and Property, Land Registration (including priority, tested only in the EAQE), Housing, Personal Data (Privacy), Unconscionable Contracts, Prevention of Bribery and Misrepresentation Ordinances, and the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance. Syllabus 3.7 names the exact sections, so questions are precise: a time limit, a percentage, a penalty or a priority date.

Part I · Stand-alone questions10 min read9 sections

Checked against the Conveyancing and Property Ordinance (Cap. 219), ss.3–6 and 41; Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128), ss.2–5A; Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283), ss.17A, 17B and 27A and Schedule; Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486), ss.2 and 19, Schedule 1 and Part 6A; Unconscionable Contracts Ordinance (Cap. 458), s.6; Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201), ss.5, 9 and 12; Misrepresentation Ordinance (Cap. 284), ss.3–4; Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 71), s.3; Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance (Cap. 621), ss.8, 10, 25, 30–35, 42, 47, 52–53, 58–61, 70–76 and 89, with SRPA pamphlet and panels; EAA Practice Circulars Nos. 07-01, 13-04, 13-05, 18-03 and 24-01 (CR); EAA, A Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice, Part 3, paras 35–59; checked 11 Oct 2026.

Must-know for the exam

Cap. 128: priority runs from registration (s.3), or from execution if registered within one month (s.5); charging orders and lis pendens from the day after registration (s.5A).
Unregistered instruments are void against a later bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for value, except bona fide leases at rack rent of 3 years or less (Cap. 128, s.3(2)).
Cap. 219, s.6: oral interests in land take effect only as tenancies at will, except leases of up to 3 years in possession at the best rent without a premium.
HOS and TPS flats under the Housing Ordinance Schedule: alienation in breach is void (s.17B) and an offence (s.27A); open-market sale needs the premium paid.
PDPO: six Data Protection Principles; answer a data access request within 40 days (s.19); direct marketing needs notice and consent, and opt-outs must be honoured.
Direct-marketing breaches: up to HK$500,000 and 3 years; HK$1,000,000 and 5 years where data is provided to others for gain (PDPO Part 6A).
POBO s.9: an agent who accepts an advantage without the principal's permission, and the person offering it, commit offences; maximum HK$500,000 and 7 years.
Cap. 621, s.53: 5% preliminary deposit; the purchaser signs the ASP within 5 working days or the deposit is forfeited; the owner signs within 8 working days.
Cap. 621: sales brochure available at least 7 days before sale; price list at least 3 days; sales arrangements published at least 3 days before (ss.25, 32, 47).
Cap. 621 has about 120 offences; the maximum is HK$5,000,000 and 7 years, for example for misrepresentation or false information inducing a purchase (ss.76 and 78).

On this page · 9 sections

Traps that cost marks

Thinking the developer can sue for more than the forfeited 5%, or using the pre-2013 10% and 3-day figures.
Counting Saturdays or a black rainstorm day as working days.
Taking 20% without checking the 50-unit floor, or applying the floor to later lists.
Swapping the 7-day brochure and 3-day price list periods.
Counting bay windows or a share of common facilities in a first-sale area.
Using the pre-2013 5-working-day disclosure period for the ASP.
Repeating hearsay sales figures to create urgency.
Thinking a 'reservation' of a named flat is harmless once the price list is out.

Why this matters in the exam

Syllabus 3.7 lists the sections it tests, so these questions reward exact recall: who must sign, which instrument ranks first, what a data user must do, which payments are bribes, and the first-hand sales deadlines. Land Registration Ordinance priority is EAQE-only content and often appears as a short dates puzzle.

Most of these laws also feed the Code of Ethics (para 3.1.1: avoid activities that may infringe the law), so an illegal HOS sale or a misleading first-sale advert can mean prosecution and EAA discipline.

Conveyancing and Property, and Land Registration Ordinances

Conveyancing and Property Ordinance (Cap. 219).

•s.3: no action on a contract for the sale or other disposition of land unless the agreement, or a note or memorandum of it, is in writing and signed by the party to be charged or someone lawfully authorised. Part performance is preserved.
•s.4: a legal estate in land can be created or passed only by deed.
•s.5: an instrument creating or disposing of an equitable interest must be in writing, signed by the person or his authorised agent.
•s.6: interests created orally have the effect of interests (tenancies) at will only, except leases taking effect in possession for up to 3 years at the best rent reasonably obtainable without a premium.
•s.41: covenants in a registered Deed of Mutual Covenant bind and benefit later owners, so a buyer is bound by a DMC he never signed.

Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128). Hong Kong uses deeds registration: instruments and judgments affecting land are registered by memorial, which gives notice and priority but does not guarantee title.

•s.3(1): registered instruments rank by date of registration.

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