3. Application procedures

3. Application procedures

Application and project selection

Owners interested in joining the Facilitating Services(Pilot Scheme) must jointly submit an application form, together with the relevant information, to the URFS.

The URFS decides whether to select the application for preliminary processing. In deciding whether to select a particular application for preliminary processing, the URFS considers whether the application requirements are satisfied, assesses the available manpower and financial resources of the URFS at the time, and considers any other factors it deems relevant, including, but not limited to, the ownership structure of the buildings, etc.

For applications selected by the URFS for preliminary processing, the URFS, at its own cost, engages a valuer, selected by the owner-applicants who signed the application form from a list prepared by URFS, to assess the financial viability of the joint sale of property interests.

Facilitation Agreement(s)

If the report from the URFS’s valuers indicates that the joint sale of property interests is financially viable, the application after preliminary processing is then treated as an approved project under the Facilitating Services (Pilot Scheme) for formal implementation (the “Approved Project”).

The URFS then signs Facilitation Agreements with each applicant and all subsequent owners who join the Approved Project. The Facilitation Agreement details the rights and obligations of both the URFS and the applicants under the Approved Project, key milestones of the Approved Project, contributions to work expenses to be made by each applicant, withdrawal/termination events, etc.

The URFS, on behalf of the participating owners, engages consultants for the Approved Project (including, but not limited to, solicitors, valuers and auction consultants), coordinates and monitors their work, and tries to persuade yet-to-commit owners to join the Approved Project.

Joint Sale Agreement

When the percentage of undivided shares of participating owners reaches 90%(or between 80%and 90%,subject to the absolute discretion of the URFS), the URFS arranges for the participating owners to sign a binding Joint Sale Agreement.

The percentage of undivided shares of participating owners who eventually sign the Joint Sale Agreement must reach 90% (or between 80% and 90%,subject to the absolute discretion of the URFS).

The Joint Sale Agreement binds all the participating owners who sign the Joint Sale Agreement to sell their property interests by auction, subject to a reserve price, and to share the sales proceeds among themselves in accordance with an agreed sharing ratio schedule.

The reserve price and the sharing ratio schedule are determined by a valuer and have to be accepted by all the participating owners who sign the Joint Sale Agreement.

Auction

The property interests covered by the Joint Sale Agreement are sold by auction to the purchaser offering the highest bid which meets or exceeds the reserve price.

If no one offers a bid or the reserve price is not met in the auction, the joint sale is deemed “unsuccessful” and the Joint Sale Agreement is terminated at once.

If the property is successfully sold by auction, the sale proceeds, less the contribution to the URFS, are distributed to the participating owners who signed the Joint Sale Agreement in accordance with the agreed sharing ratio schedule.