新界民政署
九龍公主道 一 零 一 號 香港房屋委員會總辦事處大厦 五樓及六樓
***OUR REF. (63) in TC 30/78
本署檔號
來函檔號 YOUR REF.
EM TEL.: 3-0502462
Mr. P. I. Webb,
Hong Kong & General Department,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, LONDON SW1A2AH,
U.K.
'By Diplomatic Bag
NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION,
P.A.
TTC)
4/F & 5/F, HK HOUSING AUTHORITY HQ BUILDING, 101, PRINCESS MARGARET ROAD,
KOWLOON.
12th October, 1979
HKK 1722
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 19 OCT 1979
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
REGISTRY Action Talch
IC
See (in
12223
Sea 119
・goes
Dear We66,
Letter to Mrs. Elliott : Sai Lau Kok
Thank you for your letter of 4th October.
The rates of compensation quoted in Mr. Blaker's reply, as Mrs. Elliott has suggested, were based on net areas. These were used as professional valuations normally use net figures which provide a comparison of like with like which cannot be made if net areas are used. The case of the 535 sq. ft. flat which Mrs. Elliott has quoted gives a good example of the difficulty of producing meaningful figures on a gross area basis.
This particular flat is in Cheong On building, each upper floor of which contains five flats each of which opens onto a common corridor with an area of 111 sq. ft. The entire corridor area has been included in the sale documents of each of the five flats. The flat in question has a net area of 424 sq. ft. and has been valued after survey at $185,400 which gives a net value of $437.26 a square foot.
Mrs. Elliott claims that gross area is invariably used in all flat purchases and lettings, including Government public housing. Commercial sales normally quote gross area but there is a growing tendency to quote both gross and net. I enclose a Hong Kong Land pamphlet issued in connection with their participation in the Home Ownership Scheme, in which, as you will see, only the net area is quoted.
The Housing Authority publishes both gross and net area figures for residential flats in the Home Ownership Scheme estates which it builds (see enclosed leaflet). For public housing, which usually refers to rented accommodation, the Authority uses the internal areas of domestic flats, deducting the areas of balconies, bathrooms and kitchens. This is substantially less than net area. The areas of Housing Authority commercial accomm- odation are given as the internal areas to the centre line of the enclosing walls.
/In all