LAND AND HOUSING
109
registered in a District Land Office. The second group comprises the lots on Hong Kong Island in Kowloon and New Kowloon together with the new grant lots in the New Territories registered in the Victoria Land Office.
Renewal of the leases of the first group of lots will be effected by means of legislation as from the expiration of the first term in 1973, without change in Crown rent. In the case of the second group, renewal may be effected under the legal option contained in the Crown lease or by means of one of four other ways offered by the Government. The legal option contained in the 75-year renewable Crown leases gives right of renewal for a further period at a re- assessed Crown rent which is normally 'such rent as shall be fairly and impartially fixed as the fair and reasonable rental value of the ground at the date of renewal'.
The first way of effecting renewal other than by the legal option is for the lessee to apply for renewal at the expiry of the original lease term but, in lieu of paying an annual re-assessed Crown rent, to pay in a lump sum the capitalised value of such re-assessed-rent. The second and third ways are designed specifically to meet the needs of lessees who wish to renew lots, the leases of which have less than 20 years to run, and provide alternative methods for the surrender of the existing lease and the grant of a new lease for a non-renewable term plus the tag-end of the original term. Under the first method, the premium is calculated in the same way as if the lease were for a 75-year non-renewable term and is payable in a lump sum or by three equal annual instalments including interest at 10 per cent. By the second method the premium is replaced by a re-assessed Crown rent which is payable throughout the new term. Allowance is made in each case for the value of the tag-end of the original term.
The fourth way caters for the lessee of an under-developed lot who does not wish to redevelop and allows him to renew his lease at a Crown rent lower than the full rental value of the land if he is prepared to accept a covenant limiting the development on the lot to that existing at the time of renewal. The covenant can be modified at any time redevelopment is required subject to the payment of an appropriate fee.
The demand for land continues unabated and future expansion must be in the New Territories. Outline development plans have therefore been prepared, or are under preparation, for building new towns and expanding existing market towns in areas best suited to industry and high-density housing. These are Tsuen Wan, Kwai