16
REVIEW
for the value of the unexpired portion of the existing lease. Allowance is also made for any depreciation in the value of the land due to its being occupied by buildings subject to the provi- sions of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance.
Over the years covenants have been included in Crown leases restricting development to that considered desirable at the time of sale. For example, many lots sold in the inter-war years and earlier were subject to a condition limiting buildings to a maximum of three storeys or 35 feet in height. Times and policies change and in some areas it is now possible to permit more intensive develop- ment than that stipulated in the lease. In these cases the Govern- ment varies the restrictive covenants to-permit development to present-day standards on payment of a premium based on—and, in the case of pre-war lots, usually one half of the difference between the land value as restricted and that after modification. Thus the Government and the lessee share the land value increment.
Exchanges fall into two categories, those which take place with- out change in location and those which involve a move from one district to another. The former occurs where it becomes necessary to amend the boundaries of a lot, usually on redevelopment or change of user, to comply with, say, a road widening scheme or a town planning layout; the lessee surrenders his lot and, in exchange, is granted a new lot with the boundaries suitably amended. The latter variety occurs mainly where private land is compulsorily acquired for a public purpose and the lessee offered an alternative site elsewhere. In the urban area these exchanges, where granted, are effected on a value-for-value basis, certain con- cessions being made when the land concerned is situated in long- standing village areas where land ownership has a special signifi- cance. In the New Territories when agricultural land is required in connexion with urban development within a planned layout, the policy is to grant exchanges on the basis of two square feet of building land for each five square feet of agricultural land surrendered; this ratio is based on the observation that some 60 per cent of the land in an urban area is required for roads, schools, clinics or other public uses. For building land, exchanges are granted on a foot-for-foot basis. In both cases a premium is also payable, equal to the difference in value between the land granted