If there were an Olympic medal for rule circumvention and avoidance...

[dear giant]

(1.) Government imposes stamp duty on non-PR property transactions.

(2.) Property developers allow some time to pass and then ...

(3.) Sell off individual hotel rooms as "investments". The "investors" can live in their hotel rooms but would have to pay rent to the mgmt company who will then pass it back to the occupant, who happens to be the owner/landlord.

The hotel in question is in Kwai Chung and, in the clips of video from the news broadcast, looked suspiciously like a regular old faux-luxury housing estate. Reporters found two proud new owners of hotel suites to interview: a Mainlander (who proudly admitted that it would be for his daughter to live in while studying in HK) and a Hong Konger. I'd imagine finding the Hong Konger must've taken some time.

Only in Hong Kong.

[Football16]

I think HK needs to study their problem by looking at other countries to find out why they don't do this sort of thing for these same reasons. They have mostly learned this tinkering needs to be done with care.

Ill thought up policies that look like you are doing something like this sounds like - lead to new sets of winners as people find new loopholes. Kind of like a complicated tax code and how they plug one hole to find two more.

[Claire ex-ax]

I've seen "hotel rooms" for sale in other countries. So no only in Hong Kong.