RFP Magazine - www.rfpmagazine.com

RFP Magazine

Legalities

LEGALITIES

Contact the editor	Print this article	Email this article

China Enacts Landmark Law to regulate rights over Tangible Property The new PRC Law on Property Rights was approved by the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress on 16 March 2007, and will come into effect on 1 October 2007. Protection of private property The protection of private property is highlighted in the new Law. For instance, the Law includes the following provisions: ▪ Rights to provate property are protected by law and infringement of such rights will not be permitted. ▪ If privately owned houses or other real property are expropriated for the sake of public interest, the owners of such houses or other real property should be fully compensated so as to ensure that their standard of living conditions and legitimate interest will be maintained or preserved. ▪ When the term of land use right (or leasehold) of land used for construction of residential property expires, such term will be renewed automatically. This provision does not , however, rule out the right of the state land administration authority to impose a fee for renewal. Jointly Owned facilities in Real Estate Development Zones The Law takes teh unprecedented step of providing that owners of housing units enjoy rights and assume obligations over the common areas in real estate developments and mixed-use buildings. The Law highlights the following provisions: ▪ Roads, green belts, public areas, public facilities and buildings or structures used for property management services are jointly owned by all owners of housing units in teh real estate development or building. ▪ The satisfaction of the needs of the housing unit owners for car parking spaces in the common areas or building zones of the real estate development shall be given first priority. ▪ The ownership rights over car parking spaces in a real estate development may be negotiated and agreed between the developer and the housing unit owners. Under the Law, limitations will be imposed on the right of real estate developers to dispose of car parking spaces even if those car parking spaces are owned by them.
Advertisement


Registration Of Real Estate The Property Rights Law sets out the following new provisions regarding registration of real property: (a) A unified system of registration shall be adopted for the registration of all real property, and guidelines are laid down for the performance by the registration authorities of their duties. For instance, a registration authority is not permitted to require an appraisal of the value of real property, and must not require duplicate registrations of the same property. (b) An advance notification system is to be implemented for real property registrations. The new Law provides that when parties enter into an agreement for the sale and purchase of real property, they can apply for an advance notification registration with the registration authority in order to protect their rights which have arisen as a result of the signing of that agreement. Once the advance notification registration is carried out, disposal of the real property in question cannot be effected without the prior consent of the party whose rights have been registered under the advance notification system. Hence, once an advance notification of a sale and purchase agreement (such as a pre-sale contract for an uncompleted housing unit) has been registered, the seller or developer of the property in question will be prevented from disposing of that same property, and the purchaser’s rights will be protected. (c) A flat fee will be levied for the registration of each real property transaction, and registration fees cannot be charged as a percentage of the value, price or area of the real property in question. (d) An objection registration system is to be implemented whereby an interested party may apply to a registration authority to rectify the records of a real property registration which is deemed to be incorrect. It is anticipated that a law on the registration of immovable property will be enacted in due course to implement the provisions of the Property Rights Law. RFP Contributed by: Elaine Lo, Johnson Stokes & Master, Hong Kong The contents of this article are intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and should not be treated as a substitute for specific advice concerning individual situations. You should not rely upon this article as formal legal advice.

ISSN 1994-9464
Key title: RFP magazine
Abbreviated key title: RFP mag.

Search the web
	Print Edition
	NOMINATE NOW Subscribe Now Sign Up for Ezine Past Issues