Chapter 10: Land and Housing
LAND
Land Tenure. The form of land tenure in use in the Colony is leasehold from the Crown. In the early days of the Colony, Crown leases were granted for 75, 99 or 999 years, and the present practice is for leases to be granted for 75 years, renewable for a further 75 years at a re-assessed Crown rent. In the New Terri- tories, in order to coincide with the period of the lease from China, which will expire on 30th June 1997, Crown Leases used to be granted for the residue of a term of 75 years from 1st July 1898, renewable for a further 24 years less the last three days. They are now granted for the residue of a term of 99 years less three days from 1st July 1898.
Land administration in Hong Kong and Kowloon is the respon- sibility of the Director of Public Works, who is concurrently the Building Authority and Chairman of the Town Planning Board. The Director also deals with New Kowloon, which is that part of the New Territories situated immediately north of Boundary Street, Kowloon, and south of the Kowloon hills. The District Commissioner, New Territories, is responsible for land adminis- tration throughout the rest of, the New Territories. Records of land grants by the Crown and of all private land transactions are kept in the Registrar General's Department (see Chapter 13) for Hong Kong and Kowloon, and in the District Offices situated in Kowloon, Tai Po, Ping Shan, and Tsuen Wan, for the New Terri- tories, with the exception of certain lots which are administered by the Director of Public Works and are usually known as Inland Lots. These cover the majority of the built-up parts of New Kowloon and deeds relating to them are recorded in the Registrar General's Department.
The principal laws relating to the development and use of land are the Buildings Ordinance, 1955, the Town Planning Ordinance (Chapter 131) and the New Territories Ordinance (Chapter 97).