SCMP Economy2 hours agoOpinion1 min readChina

Don’t subject Hong Kong’s private sports clubs to dubious lease changes

Clubs should not have to choose between paying again for facilities they have built and giving them up

Quick Look

The Hong Kong government is finalising lease extension terms for private recreation clubs by year-end, sparking controversy over fair land pricing and public access requirements that could force clubs to pay again for facilities they have built or give them up.

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Why It Matters

The Hong Kong government has set the end of 2026 as the deadline for finalising arrangements on extending leases of private recreation clubs. Setting a fair price for land use and arranging reasonable public access has been controversial for as long as the author can remember, last flaring up in 2018 when populist legislators complained about privileges enjoyed by a small number of wealthy people.

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The Hong Kong government has set forth on a course of action which seems destined to upset large swathes of the middle class, including senior personnel from finance, business, technology and academia. These are the very people whose presence here underpins our professed economic development strategy.

I am referring, of course, to the discussions now reaching a climax on the terms for extending the leases of private recreation clubs. The government has set the end of this year as the deadline for finalising arrangements.

The subject of setting a fair price for use of the land on which the clubs sit, and arranging a reasonable degree of public access to them, has been controversial for as long as I can remember. It last flared up in 2018 when some populist legislators complained about the privileges enjoyed by a small number of wealthy people.