The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (May 14) that open auctions for a total of 192 stalls in 29 public markets will be held in May.
To increase the occupancy rate and put long-standing vacant market stalls to better use, the FEHD will restore the past arrangement of putting up long-standing vacant stalls that could not be let out in public markets for open auction at reduced upset prices in future open auctions starting from May. Under this arrangement, the upset prices for the stalls in an open auction will be initially fixed at 80 per cent of the open market rent (OMR) if the stalls have been vacant for over six months, and at 60 per cent of the OMR if the vacant period has been over eight months.
The retail commodities allowed for sale in these stalls cover frozen meat, fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, ready-to-eat food, food-related dry goods and wet goods, non-food related dry goods and wet goods, service trades (including manicures, beauty and Chinese medicine practitioners), siu mei and lo mei, light refreshment, etc. The tenancy agreement is a three-year fixed term from July 1, with no right of renewal upon expiry of the tenancy agreement. The upset prices of the monthly rent of the stalls vary depending on the sizes and locations of the individual stalls. Relevant information is available on the FEHD website.
A spokesman for the FEHD said, "Bidders for the market stalls must be at least 18 years old and ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. To allow more people to bid for the stalls and increase customer choices by enhancing the diversity in terms of the variety of stalls, there will be a restriction on the number of stalls to be rented in the same market by a single tenant. Any person who is currently a stall tenant is not allowed to bid in the first round of auction for any stall in the same market, and will only be allowed to bid for one stall in the second round of auction. The existing tenants under the new three-year fixed term tenancy scheme (i.e. those persons who became stall tenants through the market open auctions after August 2022) are allowed to bid for a stall in the same market in the auction, but shall deliver vacant possession of the current stall to the FEHD before the effective date of commencement of the tenancy agreement. The terms and conditions of the auctions have been uploaded to the FEHD website, with details of qualifications of the bidders listed."
The date of the auctions and the number of stalls are as follows:
New Territories
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Auction date: May 21 (Tuesday)
Number of stalls: 73
Hong Kong Island (except Aberdeen Market)
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Auction date: May 28 (Tuesday) (am)
Number of stalls: 57
Aberdeen Market
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Auction date: May 28 (Tuesday) (pm)
Number of stalls: 20
Kowloon (except Lai Wan Market)
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Auction date: May 29 (Wednesday) (am)
Number of stalls: 40
Lai Wan Market
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Auction date: May 29 (Wednesday) (pm)
Number of stalls: two
The New Territories auction will be held at Tung Cheong Street Community Hall, 1/F, Tai Po Tung Cheong Street Leisure Building, 25 Tung Cheong Street, Tai Po, New Territories. The remaining auctions will be held at the Assembly Hall, 2/F, Lai Chi Kok Government Offices, 19 Lai Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon. Limited seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The admission tickets will be issued 30 minutes prior to the commencement of each auction. Persons who want to attend the auctions must wait at the waiting area of the auction venue and produce their Hong Kong identity card or passport for registration. The registered person will then be provided with an admission ticket for the auctions. In addition, eligible bidders after verification will be issued with a bidding paddle for the auction. The FEHD has also invited representatives of the Police, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Competition Commission to monitor the auctions at the auction venue in order to ensure that the open auctions are conducted in an orderly and fair manner.
Details of the open auctions and the public market stalls concerned (including stalls for open auction at reduced upset prices) have been uploaded to the FEHD website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/pleasant_environment/tidy_market/open_auction_coming.html). Bidders interested in the auctions may visit the department website or contact the respective District Environmental Hygiene Office.