Hong Kong’s Consumer Council, in cooperation with its Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area counterparts, launched a one-stop portal on Wednesday providing guidance for renting and buying properties across the region.
The platform offers “GBA housing tips” with essential information for potential homebuyers or tenants in the 11-city cluster that includes the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
Users can access information regarding each city’s property transaction and rental processes, policies and regulations, terminology explanations and comparisons, as well as cases highlighting potential risks and disputes.
The initiative is a response to Hong Kong residents’ growing interest in cross-border residences amid closer integration into the Greater Bay Area and the development of the “one-hour living circle”.
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However, the trend has also led to an increase in disputes and complaints, according to the Hong Kong consumer watchdog, which reported receiving 758 housing-related complaints from 2022-24. Forty-nine of those cases involved other GBA cities, with the biggest individual amount of 2.33 million yuan ($320,400).
At the platform’s launching ceremony, Hong Kong Consumer Council Chief Executive Gilly Wong Fung-han said she hopes the website will provide cross-border customers with pragmatic information that meets their needs, encourages wiser consumption practices, and protects them from fraud.
Clement Chan Kam-wing, the council’s chairman, highlighted the differences in laws and market cultures affecting property transactions in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao. Consumers can easily suffer costly setbacks if they lack relevant information, he said.
Chan citied cases in which Hong Kong buyers encountered delays to property deliveries, or substandard decorative work, leading to lengthy claims processes. He said he hopes that the platform can help consumers become savvier and avoid such unpleasant experiences.
Chan said the Hong Kong Consumer Council is committed to strengthening consumers’ awareness of the need to safeguard their rights, and will leverage different channels and methods to promote different initiatives.
At the same event, the council announced the annual top 10 consumer news items, as voted on by the public. The sudden closure of the local gym chain Physical Fitness, which generated over 5,000 complaints involving more than HK$200 million ($25.69 million), claimed the top spot.
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The uproar sparked by Lionel Messi’s no-show at an exhibition soccer match in Hong Kong in February 2024 and subsequent ticket refund arrangements ranked second, followed by the suspension of the city’s “user pays” waste-charging program.
Other consumer news items included a relaxation of property measures, public transportation fare hikes, the mounting trend toward northbound consumption, and the “panda economy”.
The council said that this year’s event drew a record 14,429 voters, reflecting the public’s rising interest in and concern at smart consumption habits, adding that it will continue to advocate for consumer rights protection, sharing of consumption information, and cautioning against sales traps and unfair business practices.
