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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:

Application for the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Phase 21B will start tomorrow (Thursday). Offered for sale are 6,840 new flats in three well-located projects.

"Quality is always our paramount concern. We are making every effort to ensure the quality of our buildings. We aim at providing home buyers with value-for-money and high-quality flats," remarked the Housing Department*s Assistant Director (Applications and Home Ownership), Mr. Cheng Yao-kong at a press conference today.

An exhibition titled 'Building for Quality' will be open to the public, starting tomorrow, at the Housing Authority*s Customer Service Centre (HACSC) next to the Lok Fu MTR station.

The exhibition will show the stringent monitoring system adopted by the Housing Authority, ranging from laboratory testing of building materials, site inspections, to testing of piles. Two smart robots called Quality Controller Q1 and Q2 will hand out to visitors certificates on quality assurance.

The three projects offered in HOS 21B are Tung Yuk Court stage 2 at Shau Kei Wan, Tin Fu Court Stage 2 at Tin Shui Wai and Rhythm Garden at Choi Hung, all enjoying excellent transport convenience and beautiful views. The former two projects are of the popular Concord design while the third one is a Private Sector Participation Scheme project developed by the City Team Development Limited, a subsidiary of the New World Group.

All the new flats will be sold at a preferential discount of 44% off the market value. The lowest prices stand at $544,200 for a 664 square-foot-gross flat in Tin Fu Court, $878,800 for a 568 square-foot-gross flat in Rhythm Garden and $1,389,900 for a 829 square-foot-gross unit in Tung Yuk Court.

For the first time, single persons can apply for HOS flats using the White Form. Both Green Form and White Form Singleton applicants can select flats up to 50 square-metre salable. That means they can choose the 2-bedroom flats offered in Tin Fu Court Stage 2 and Rhythm Garden.

All households affected by the Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme, except those who are paying market rent, can enjoy a non-repayable mortgage subsidy of $162,000 over six years when buying a HOS flat.

Showflats of 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom Concord design are available at the HACSC in Lok Fu and Tin Shui Wai HOS Show Flats Centre daily from 9:00am to 7:00pm. Show flats of Rhythm Garden are open at Basement 2 of the New World Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui from 10:00am to 7:00pm during the application period. A large-scale exhibition on the three HOS 21B projects will be held at the Exhibition Hall of the HACSC. Shuttle buses are available outside the HACSC to provide applicants a free ride to visit Tin Shui Wai.

Application forms are available at the HACSC, the Tin Shui Wai HOS Show Flats Centre, all public housing estate offices, Housing Information Centres and Home Affairs Offices in all districts. The deadline for application is 12 January, 2000.

End/ Wednesday, December 22, 1999

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