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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority (HA)'s Commercial Properties Committee (CPC) today (November 26) approved a slight increase the monthly carpark charges and launch a new 24-hour pass for its carparks with effect from January 1, 2010.
"The HA's current monthly carpark charges for private cars, motor-cycles and light good vehicles are, in general, below the reference market level of carpark charges of more than 250 carparks under various categories covered in our market research, mainly because our carpark charges were only mildly adjusted in 2008 while 2009 carpark charges were maintained at 2008 level. We need to increase the carpark charges in 2010 to bring the charge level within the market range," CPC Chairman Dr Andrew Chan Ping-chiu said.
The hourly carpark charges for 2010 would be maintained at the existing level: for private cars, $12 for Regions A (Hong Kong and Kowloon) and B (Shatin, Ma On Shan, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tseung Kwan O); and $8 for Regions C (Tsing Yi, Tai Po, Fanling and Sheung Shui) and D (Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Tung Chung and Outlying Islands). The hourly carpark charges for motor cycles and light goods vehicles in all regions would be maintained at $2 and $16 respectively.
"The monthly carpark charges for private cars will be increased by 5%, from $930 - $1,940 to $980 - $2,040 for covered carpark, $750- $1,600 to $790 - $1,680 for open carpark; the monthly carpark charges for motorcycles for all districts will be increased by $30 per space, from $270 to $300 for covered carpark and $220 to $250 for open carpark; whereas the monthly carpark charges for light goods vehicles for all districts will be increased by 3% from $2,210 to $2,280 for covered carpark and $1,710 to $1,760 for open carpark," Dr Chan said.
He stressed that the increases were mild and applied only to the monthly but not the hourly carpark charges, which were to be maintained at 2009 level. He added that the resultant carpark charges on average would still be slightly below the level of some of the more popular carparks in comparable sectors.
Members approved that the following discounts currently in use for monthly parking would continue to apply in 2010:
(a) 15% discount under a floating allocation system as determined by the local management to optimise utilisation through shared use of available parking spaces;
(b) a 40% discount for part-time parking from 6pm to 8am the following day; and
(c) a 50% discount for disabled people who live or work in public housing estates/courts.
In today's meeting, members also approved the launch of a new 24-hour pass to attract carpark users whose time of parking may fall outside the time limits of the late-night parking scheme or the day-pass. Members believed that the 24-hour pass would increase the utilisation of carparks.
The 24-hour pass would be available at $80 for Regions A and B and $60 for Regions C and D. The Chief Managers/Management would consider if the scheme should apply to individual carparks according to local demand for parking.
The HA has, since 2005, offered a 20% discount to the HA's shop tenants for bulk-purchase of 50 parking coupons or its multiples. The CPC approved that this arrangement will continue to apply in 2010.
At present, the HA has a portfolio of about 26,500 parking spaces in 109 carparks. About 2,600 parking spaces or 10% of this portfolio are made available in individual estates/courts for public parking on hourly charges.
Ends/Thursday, November 26, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:05
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