Open auctions for public market stalls to be held in April
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (April 3) that open auctions for a total of 47 stalls in 11 public markets will be held in April.
The retail commodities allowed for sale in these stalls cover chilled meat/frozen meat, chilled poultry, fresh meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, cooked food, ready-to-eat food, food-related dry goods and wet goods, non-food related dry goods, service trades (including manicures, beauty and Chinese medicine practitioners), etc. The tenancy agreement is a three-year fixed term from May 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, while no existing tenant under the new three-year fixed term tenancy scheme (i.e. those persons who became the stall tenant through the market open auctions after August 2022) shall be allowed to bid for a stall in the same market in any event. Any person who is currently a stall tenant of the Aberdeen Market is allowed to bid for a stall in the Aberdeen 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:
Aberdeen Market
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Auction date: April 9 (Tuesday) (am)
Number of stalls: 14
Hong Kong Island (except Aberdeen Market)
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Auction date: April 9 (Tuesday) (pm)
Number of stalls: 13
Lai Wan Market
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Auction date: April 10 (Wednesday) (am)
Number of stalls: four
Kowloon (except Lai Wan Market)
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Auction date: April 10 (Wednesday) (pm)
Number of stalls: seven
New Territories
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Auction date: April 12 (Friday)
Number of stalls: nine
The open auctions will be held at Room 410, 4/F, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Nam Cheong Offices and Vehicle Depot, 87 Yen Chow Street West, 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. Eligible bidders after verification will be issued with a bidding paddle for the auction. Moreover, restrictions on bidding at open auctions have been updated. A person who has been successful in bidding a stall in any public market at auction but has failed to sign a tenancy agreement for that stall within one year before the auction date will not be allowed to bid at an auction. In addition, a sitting tenant or former tenant of a stall in any public market, whose tenancy was terminated early by the Government (other than temporary decanting or permanent relocation arranged by the Government), will not be allowed to bid at an auction (the restriction will not be applicable after the period of one year counting from the issue date of the notice of termination of tenancy agreement). 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 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.
Ends/Wednesday, April 3, 2024