HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 15 February 1989
香港立法局 ———————————一九八九年二月十五日
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MRS. CHOW: Sir, will Government look into whether there is any misuse of subsidy by either students or their parents under the present scheme for purposes other than travel?
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, we do have at present a 5% check on misuse.
Shortage of office accommodation
5. MR. EDWARD HO asked: As the present acute shortage of office accommodation and the consequent spiralling office rentals may have adverse effects on our economy, will Government inform this Council what action it will take to address the problem?
SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, the problem of "spiraling office rentals", which is of course a fairly familiar problem in Hong Kong, is most serious in prime locations such as Central and Tsim Sha Tsui. This has already encouraged the development of offices in secondary areas including sites along the MTR line and Sha Tin and the relocation of firms which do not really require a presence in more central areas. This is a beneficial spin-off not least because it helps to decentralize office jobs, and the Town Planning Board has taken some pains to accommodate this trend.
Any government action which would have a major immediate effect on the market would need to have been taken several years ago and initiated even further back. We have, as is well known, just sold a site in Wan Chai which should yield about 108 000 sq m of new office space. We plan to sell another site in Central very shortly which will yield about a further 110 000 sq m. But this accommodation will not be available for some years. Again Government is reviewing its own land holdings with a view to putting whatever sites it can on the market, but again the effect will be some years off. More immediately a recent minor adjustment of the Town Planning Board's policy now automatically permits up to 30% of factory accommodation to be used as ancillary office space and has avoided certain industrial and trading firms having to enter the market for separate office premises. And several applications for a greater percentage have been successful when justified. However a general relaxation of conditions of industrial lots would produce conflicts with Buildings Regulations and would result in rental pressure being transferred to the industrial sector.