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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA)'s Commercial Properties Committee (CPC) today (November 17) approved some mild adjustments to monthly carpark charges, hourly carpark charges for private cars, Day Pass charges and 24-hour Pass charges for private cars for 2015, while the existing hourly carpark charges for motorcycles and light goods vehicles will remain unchanged.
It is an established policy to charge market licence fees for HA's parking spaces. As market research indicates that the HA's current monthly carpark charges are in general slightly below the average market level, the CPC today endorsed a moderate increase in the monthly parking charges in 2015.
The monthly parking charges for private cars and light goods vehicles will both be slightly increased by around 4 per cent. For private cars, charges for Tier 1 fixed parking space will be increased from $1,280 - $2,250 to $1,330 - $2,340 for covered spaces and from $1,050 - $1,850 to $1,090 - $1,920 for open spaces. As for light goods vehicles, the charges will be increased from $2,520 to $2,620 for covered spaces and from $1,930 to $2,010 for open spaces. Regarding monthly parking charges for motorcycles, there will be an increase from $380 to $410 for covered spaces and from $300 to $320 for open spaces.
The market research indicated that increases in the hourly parking charges, Day pass and 24-hour Pass for private cars were recorded in most of the private sector carparks since the last review. To bring the charges more in line with the market level, the CPC approved the increase of the hourly parking rates by $1, the Day Pass and 24-hour Pass charges by $5 for all regions.
"The approved increases are moderate and the resultant carpark charges will still be on average slightly below the level of the majority of carparks in comparable sectors," said a spokesman for the HA.
For the hourly parking charges for motocycles and light goods vehicles, the research indicated that there had been no significant adjustment in charges for the majority of private sector carparks and that the HA's current charges were in line with market rates. The CPC therefore approved to maintain the existing charges for 2015.
The HA's monthly carpark 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 2015 will be based on the occupancy rates from August to October 2014. Monthly parking charges for private cars at some carparks may be adjusted accordingly. If, subsequently, the 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 the wider use of electric vehicles (EVs), members approved to continue offering free parking for EVs during electricity charging at the hourly parking space up to a maximum of two hours; and to charge utility companies a nominal licence fee of $1 per annum for their EV charging facilities installed at HA's carparks.
The HA's carpark 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 level including carpark charges of other public bodies and comparable private sectors in determining its carpark charges, with a view to maximising occupancy and optimising returns. The HA had some 28,200 parking spaces in 130 carparks as at end September 2014.
Ends/Monday, November 17, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:25
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