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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Commercial Properties Committee (CPC) today (November 24) approved mild adjustments of the monthly car park charges, hourly car park charges for private cars, Day Pass charges and 24-hour Pass charges for private cars for 2016, while the existing hourly car park charges for motorcycles and light goods vehicles (LGVs) would remain unchanged. The CPC also set charges for coach/bus parking.
It is an established policy to charge market fees for the HA's parking spaces. As the market research indicates that the HA's current monthly car park charges are in general slightly below the average market level, the CPC today endorsed a moderate increase in the monthly parking charges in 2016.
The monthly parking charges for private cars and LGVs will both be slightly increased by around 4 per cent. For private cars, charges for Tier 1 fixed parking spaces will be increased from $1,330 - $2,340 to $1,380 - $2,430 for covered spaces and from $1,090 - $1,920 to $1,130 - $2,000 for open spaces. As for LGVs, the charges will be increased from $2,620 to $2,720 for covered spaces and from $2,010 to $2,090 for open spaces. Regarding monthly parking charges for motorcycles, there will be increases from $410 to $440 for covered spaces and from $320 to $340 for open spaces.
The market research indicated that increases in the hourly parking charges, day passes and 24-hour passes for private cars were recorded in most of the private sector car parks since the last review. To bring the charges more in line with the market levels, the CPC approved the increase of the hourly parking rates for private cars by $1 and the Day Pass and 24-hour Pass charges by $5 for all regions.
"The approved increases are moderate and the resultant car park charges will still be on average slightly below the level of the majority of car parks in comparable sectors," a spokesman for the HA said.
For the hourly parking charges for motorcycles and LGVs, the research indicated that there was no significant adjustment in charges for the majority of private sector car parks and the HA's current charges were in line with the market rates. The CPC therefore approved to maintain the existing charges for 2016.
The CPC today also set charges for coach/bus parking. For 16-seater and 24-seater buses, as both types of parking spaces are of comparable size to existing LGV spaces, the same monthly charge of LGV parking spaces will be adopted. For the 32-seater bus parking spaces, which are larger than the size of LGV parking spaces, the CPC set the monthly charge for a covered parking space at $3,500 and the charge for an open parking space at $2,600, and a unified charge for this type of coach/bus parking for all regions will be adopted.
The HA's monthly car park charges for private cars are subject to a three-tier charging system based on occupancy rates (namely Tiers 1, 2 and 3 for occupancy rates at 90 per cent or above, 50 per cent to below 90 per cent, and below 50 per cent respectively) with different charges. The tier adopted for the new charges in 2016 will be based on the occupancy rates from August to October 2015. Monthly parking charges for private cars at some car parks may be adjusted accordingly. If, subsequently, occupancy falls to a lower tier for three consecutive months, the rate of charges will be reduced.
To support the Government's policy of promoting wider use of electric vehicles (EVs), members approved to continue to offer free parking for EVs during electricity charging at hourly parking spaces for a maximum of two hours, and to charge the utility companies a nominal licence fee of $1 per annum for their EV charging facilities installed at the HA's car parks.
The HA's car park charges are reviewed annually and the approved charges will take effect from January 1 of the following year. The HA makes reference to the current market levels including car park charges of other public bodies and comparable private sectors in determining its car park charges, with a view to maximising occupancy and optimising returns. The HA had some 28,600 parking spaces in 139 car parks as at the end of September 2015.
Ends/Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:08
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