First-hand residential sales (Cap. 621)

The Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance (Cap. 621) controls how developers sell new flats: saleable area, sales brochures, price lists, show flats, sales arrangements, the 5% preliminary deposit and the 5-working-day rule, the register of transactions and advertisements. The SQE syllabus lists over 30 of its sections, and EAA Circulars 13-04 and 18-03 add the rules for agents at first-sale sites.

Part I · Stand-alone questions8 min read8 sections

Checked against the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance (Cap. 621), ss.2, 8, 10, 16, 17, 20, 25, 29 to 35, 42, 47 to 49, 52, 53, 59, 61, 70, 71, 73 to 76, 89 and Schedule 2; Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority pamphlet (2/2023), panels and FAQs (srpa.gov.hk); EAA Practice Circulars Nos. 13-04 (CR) (effective 29 Apr 2013), 18-03 (CR) (effective 1 Dec 2018) and 24-01 (CR) (effective 1 Nov 2024); EAA, A Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice, Part 2, paras 105 to 110; checked 11 Oct 2026.

Must-know for the exam

Cap. 621 commenced 29 Apr 2013; the regulator is the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority (SRPA). First-hand car parking spaces are not covered (s.10).
Saleable area (s.8) includes balcony, utility platform and verandah; it excludes bay window, cockloft, flat roof, garden, parking space, roof, stairhood, terrace, yard and air-conditioning plant room.
Sales brochure: available free for at least 7 days immediately before sale, printed or examined within the previous 3 months (ss.17, 25).
Price list and sales arrangements: each available at least 3 days before the date of sale (ss.32, 47). A revised price applies only 3 days after the revision.
Price list minimums (s.30): up to 30 flats, all; 31 to 99, at least 30; 100 or more, first list the greater of 50 or 20%, later lists at least 10%.
No general expression of intent before the price list is available; no specific expression of intent for a flat before it is offered for sale (s.34).
Preliminary deposit 5% (s.52). Purchaser signs the ASP within 5 working days or the PASP ends and the deposit is forfeited; owner signs within 8 working days (s.53).
Register of transactions (s.59): PASP details within 24 hours; ASP within 1 working day; a lapsed PASP is shown on the 6th working day.
About 120 offences; the maximum is HK$5,000,000 and 7 years, for misrepresentation, false or misleading information and misleading advertisements (ss.70, 75, 76).
Circular 13-04 (CR): saleable area only, latest brochure and price list, no loans to purchasers, no mortgage assurances, no deposits without vendor authorisation, incentives in writing.

On this page · 8 sections

Traps that cost marks

Adding the bay window or flat roof because they are part of the flat, when Schedule 2 excludes them from saleable area.
Dividing the price by the flat’s floor area alone, forgetting that balconies and utility platforms are part of saleable area.
Treating a cockloft as usable floor space and so part of saleable area, when Schedule 2 excludes it.
Measuring to the outer face of a party wall, which would count the neighbour’s half of the wall.
Thinking private messages escape the rules.
Thinking the Ordinance covers only off-plan sales.
Assuming a never-sold flat is always ‘first-hand’ under the Ordinance, missing the 95%/36-month exemption for let completed developments.
Mixing up the brochure and price list periods.

Why this matters in the exam

Cap. 621 is a numbers ordinance. Most questions ask how many days, how many flats, what percentage or which item counts in saleable area, so a clean table of figures earns marks quickly. Watch the units: some periods are calendar days (brochure 7 days, price list 3 days) and some are working days (5 and 8 working days for the agreements).

The rest of the marks come from agent conduct. EAA Practice Circular No. 13-04 (CR) sets what a licensee may say and do at a first sale, and Circular No. 18-03 (CR) controls order at sales sites. Part II case studies on first-hand sales mix both.

Scope and saleable area

Cap. 621 applies to first-hand residential properties in Hong Kong, completed or uncompleted (s.10). It does not cover first-hand car parking spaces. A completed development is exempt if at least 95% of its flats have been let for at least 36 months since the occupation permit (s.10(3)).

Saleable area (s.8) is the floor area of the flat, measured from the outside of its enclosing walls (from the middle of a wall shared with another flat), including balcony, utility platform and verandah. Schedule 2 items are excluded from saleable area and listed separately: air-conditioning plant room, bay window, cockloft, flat roof, garden, parking space, roof, stairhood, terrace and yard. Saleable area is the only basis allowed for floor area and price per square foot or metre in brochures, price lists and advertisements, and licensees must not quote any other basis (Circular 13-04, paras 12 to 13).

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