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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fairly familiar problem and to land formation programmes to be undertaken in the immediate and longer term to provide for office accommodation developments in Central District and other places. Will the Secretary please inform this Council why spiralling office rentals have been allowed to become a fairly familiar problem, and whether such a problem is due to inadequate forward planning or programmes?
SECRETARY FOR LAND AND WORKS: Sir, in Hong Kong over the last 15 to 20 years, there have probably been about three cycles in which the office rentals have gone up. In all cases they have been associated with a very high demand, and also with the same phenomenon of concentration of demand starting in Central and fanning out down to other areas.
I suppose
would have been possible for the Government if it had forsaken many of its other priorities to put a great deal more resources into providing reclamations and land in the central areas which would have alleviated this problem. But as I say, it would have been at the expense of other priorities.
MR. MCGREGOR: Sir, since it seems clear that the problem of the supply of commercial accommodation is likely to be felt for several years from now, will Government consider urgently an extension of the present 30% allowance for commercial space in industrial buildings to 50% and in addition removing the need for an industrial connection in the buildings concerned?
SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS: Sir, the second suggestion removal of industrial connection would be critical to considering the first part. On the whole, the Town Planning Board has found that 30% plus the ability to apply for a bit more broadly satisfies the needs of industrial establishments. It is a question in fact of opening up industrial buildings to unrelated offices which the board has up till now resisted. The reason is that it feels that rental pressure upon the factories within those areas as is being put on many offices would be transferred to factories in areas closer to Central, and it feels that would be undesirable. I think this question of transfer of rental pressure to smaller factories in the central areas is a sufficiently major issue to justify the board's reluctance to change the present ratio.