Government from the date of his surrender until the date of grant whilst in the
meantime the Government is making full use of the surrendered lot and may be
deriving income therefrom to the exclusion of the owner.
9.
When the landowner uses "Letter B Entitlement" to exchange for land
granted by the Crown, and agrees to pay to the Government a premium for that
land, the landowner does this on the basis of the law applicable at that time.
The development of land under a "Letter B" Exchange is governed by the provisions
of the Building (Planning) Regulations which set out the permitted density of
development in terms of site coverage and plot ratio. "Plot ratio" is the ratio
of the total floor area of the building as against the total area of the land.
In June, 1975 the Government unilaterally introduced the policy
whereby, for land granted in redemption of "Letter 3" rights, the permitted
density of such land was substantially cut down. In recognition of this unfairness
the Government offered owners a token reduction of the premium charged for the
exchange. The Heung Yee Kuk considers that such a policy ought not to be introduced
without consultation with it and without legislative amendment, and should have no
10.
retrospective application.
11.
The alternative to "Letter B" Entitlement is cash compensation for land
resumed under the Crown Land Resumption Ordinance, Cap 124. This is oppressive of
the inhabitants. The development of the New Territories caused land prices to
rise. Agricultural land near a development usually becomes unsuitable for
agriculture (see paragraph II 3(i) above). The Crown relies on legislation to
impose a wholly arbitrary sum for cash compensation which is far below the true
market value. This arbitrary sum is the capital value which the Crown determines
as that of land used only for agriculture (when it can no longer be so used), with
its expectancy or probability or permission to modify its use being disregarded.
In truth, the market value of the land consists of many components including the
economic and political stability of the New Territories. By taking a fixed and
arbitrary agricultural value, the Government had been compensating the inhabitants
in the New Territories for land resumed at a figure not exceeding $10.00 per sq.
ft. up to the end of March 1977 when the true market value was substantially more.
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