Section B: Estate Management and Rent Policy Chapter 26: Short Term Letting of Commercial Premises (by Non-domestic (Headquarters) Management Unit) I. Eligibility of Applicants/Tenderers  1.   Tenderers/Applicants, if in the individual capacity, must be 18 years of age or over.  2.   Applicants/Tenderers, if in the capacity of a corporation, must be a limited company.  3.   If any person who signs as tenderers/applicants does so as an agent or a trustee for any other person or persons, he shall disclose in his Application/Tender Form the names and addresses of such person or persons. If no such disclosure is made, the person signing the Application/Tender Form shall be deemed to be a principal and no subsequent disclosure of any trust, agencies, etc. will be recognized by Hong Kong Housing Authority. II. Ways of Submitting the Tender / Application  1.   Tenderers/Applicants  are invited through newpaper advertisements for leasing of vacant commercial premises of up to 70 m2 in size offered to let unsuccessfully in open tender exercise at least thrice for a standard term.  2.    Letting by Open Instant Tender     a. Details of commercial premises available for bidding will be displayed at Podium Level 1, HKHA Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon and in estate / court / shopping centre management offices. They will also be uploaded onto the Housing Authority / Housing Department (HA/HD) Web Site every Friday preceding the day of tender.     b. Any person interested in bidding the premises  should bring along his / her Hong Kong Identity Card  to the tender venue for registration and bidding on the day of tender. Successful tenderers are required to submit a cashier's order or cheque made payable to the "Hong Kong Housing Authority" in the amount equivalent to one month's tendered rent of the commercial premises as deposit instantly.  3.    Letting by Walk-in Application on a First-come-first-served Basis      a. Details of commercial premises available for letting will be displayed at Podium Level 1, HKHA Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon and in estate / court / shopping centre management offices. They will also be uploaded onto the HA/HD Web Site every Friday preceding the letting period.      b. Any person interested in leasing the premises can bring along his / her Hong Kong Identity Card to the Non-domestic (Headquarters) Management Unit of the Housing Department at Podium Level 1, HKHA Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon in person from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) during the letting period. Prospective tenants are required to submit a cashier's order or cheque made payable to the "Hong Kong Housing Authority" and in the amount equivalent to one month's rent of the commercial premises as deposit. III. Basic Leasing Terms and Conditions  1. The term of tenancy is twelve months.  2. The tenant may apply for a standard three-year tenancy term during the short-term tenancy period subject to a rent review and compliance with tenancy conditions.  3. Tenders/ Applications will only be accepted from tenderers/applicants who will occupy the premises for their own use and no assignment, sub-letting or parting with the possession of the premises or any part thereof will be permitted without the prior written approval from Hong Kong Housing Authority.  4. Tenderers/Applicants should note that under the Tenancy Agreement, interest will be charged on the amount of rent, air-conditioning charges, if any, and rates in arrears at the rate of 2% per month, from the date upon which such payment fell due.  5. The prospective tenant can enjoy a one-month rent-free period.  6. The attention of tenderers/applicants is drawn to the fact that whenever the tenancy is terminated for whatever reasons, the tenant is required to deliver up vacant possession of the premises to Hong Kong Housing Authority unconditionally, and shall not be entitled to any claim for compensation. Hong Kong Housing Authority shall have the full right to relet the premises or otherwise dispose of the premises in such manner and to such person as it may think fit, free from the interference of any person.  7. Tenderers/Applicants should note that the granting of a commercial tenancy  does not confer upon the tenant any exclusive right to any particular trade in the estate/shopping centre concerned, and that Hong Kong Housing Authority reserves the right to let other premises in the estate/shopping centre concerned in whatever manner for the same trade according to the needs as assessed by Hong Kong Housing Authority. Change of user of the premises during the term of the tenancy shall not be permitted without the written consent of Hong Kong Housing Authority.  8. Tenderers/Applicants should note that under the terms of the Tenancy  Agreement, the Housing Authority shall be entitled to transfer and assign the reversion of the premises and all the right and obligations under the Tenancy Agreement to any third party on such terms and conditions as the Housing Authority shall think fit without any interference or any claim or demand for compensation whatsoever by the tenant. IV. The General Requirements for Fitting-out  1. Tenderers/Applicants are advised to note the maximum electricity loading available to the premises. Should additional loading beyond the designed capacity be required, the expenses incurred in upgrading, plus on-cost currently at the rate of 28.7% as supervision charge, will be wholly borne by the prospective tenant, provided that the upgrading is approved by the Housing Department.  2. The prospective tenant shall accept the premises in the state and condition in which they are found at the date when possession is given and shall be responsible for the fitting-out of the premises to meet the requirements of Hong Kong Housing Authority and other competent authorities. All modifications to the building services installations, subject to agreement of the Housing Department, must be carried out by contractors appointed by the Housing Department. The expenses incurred in all modifications, plus on-cost currently at the rate of 28.7% as supervision charge, will be wholly borne by the prospective tenant.  3. The prospective tenant is required to submit plans for the intended conversion to the Housing Department and no conversion work shall be started until written approval is obtained from the Housing Department.  4. The prospective tenant will be allowed to install his own air-conditioning system on the premises if no central air-conditioning is provided but installation of air-conditioning plant and routing of pipe/duct are subject to prior approval from the Housing Department. Besides, properly connected drainage for condensation should be provided where air-conditioning units are used.  5. No installation likely to cause disturbance to persons and properties, (e.g. exhaust fans, fume-extractors, etc.) will be permitted without prior approval from the Housing Department.  6.  No alteration to shop front is permitted unless approval has been obtained from the Housing Department.  7. Installation of signage outside the premises is allowed only at designated locations. The location, layout, lettering and colour scheme of the proposed signs are to be approved by the Housing Department.  8.  A pre-letting meeting can be arranged upon request to answer questions from prospective tenants before submission of fitting-out plans. A guideline has been developed to help the prospective tenants to identify what types of fitting-out works would require submission to Independent Checking Unit and licensing authority. Respective Shopping Centre Manager will provide the guideline to the prospective tenants before they submit their applications. For complicated submission, a case conference can be arranged with the tenant to collate input from the different disciplines simultaneously.  9. We will vet from Landlord' s role and approve the applications for fitting-out works by 3 classes according to complexity as below.   Case 1 : Simple case        : No alteration of BS installations, structure, waterproofing, drainage, compartmentation, outlook of the building. To be completed within 7 days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.     Case 2 : Normal case        : Considerable amount of building works, relocation of internal partitions, forming of openings in floor or wall. To be completed within 14 days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.    Case 3 : Complicated Case : Involved major building works, additional floor or wall, installation of heavy machine or equipment. To be completed within 21 days excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.   Note: Time count will stop when reminder to call for supplementary information is sent out to tenant and resumes when full set of required information is received. V. Normal Leasing Procedures of Short Term Letting  1. Tenderers/Applicants will be notified in writing the result of their tenderers /applications as soon as a decision is made by Hong Kong Housing Authority.  2. A tenderer/an applicant shall attend the interviews or execute the Tenancy Agreement whichever is applicable within the time specified in a written notice issued by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or such person as authorized by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, which time shall be not less than seven days from the date of the notice.  The tenancy shall commence and rent shall be payable from the date of the execution of the Tenancy Agreement.  In the event the tenderer/applicant fails for whatever reasons to attend the interviews or to execute the Tenancy Agreement within the time specified, Hong Kong Housing Authority may by notice in writing to the tenderer/applicant forthwith cancel the tender/application and the letting of the premises to the tenderer/applicant hereunder.  Upon the cancellation of the tender/application and the letting of the premises as aforesaid the entire deposit shall forthwith be absolutely forfeited to Hong Kong Housing Authority as liquidated damages and not as a penalty without any further notice and Hong Kong Housing Authority may let the premises to such other person and/or deal with the premises in such manner as Hong Kong Housing Authority shall consider appropriate, and the tenderer/applicant shall not have any claim whatever for compensation or refund of the deposit or in respect of the premises or otherwise against Hong Kong Housing Authority.  3. On signing the Tenancy, in addition to the payment of the rent for the first month, the successful tenderers/applicants shall be required to pay a deposit equivalent to one month's rent of the tenancy term to Hong Kong Housing Authority. Provided that there shall be no outstanding rent, and/or rates, air-conditioning charge, if any, or other breaches of the tenancy, this deposit, without any interest thereon, shall be refunded on termination of the tenancy.  4. Hong Kong Housing Authority will give prior written notice to the successful tenderer/applicant to take possession of the leased premises. The date of commencement of the tenancy shall be the date on which possession of the leased premises is given.     VI. Special Rules and Regulations  1. Hong Kong Housing Authority does not bind itself to accept any tender/ application.  2. Tendereres/Applicants are reminded that if manipulation of Hong Kong Housing Authority's letting system is discovered, and such has been proved to the satisfaction of the Director of Housing, then the said Director can at his discretion reject the tenders/applications from such tenderers/applicants. The decision by the Director of Housing as to whether the letting system has been manipulated and as to whether the applicants are involved in the manipulation is final.  3. No charge is made on the supply of the tenderer/application form and for the processing of tenders/applications. Reports should be made to the appropriate authority immediately for any person purporting to offer assistance in respect of the tenders/ applicants in return for a reward.  4. Any applicant/tenderer who attempts to influence consideration of his or her application/tenderer by approaching any member of the staff of the department or by the use of any other improper means shall render his or her tender/application invalid.  5. Tenderers/Applicants are warned that offering or giving any gratuity, money or gift as an inducement to any employee of the Housing Department in relation to the tender/application constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and such cases will be reported to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

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