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HOUSING AND LAND
The Land Registration Ordinance provides that all instruments registered under it shall have priority according to their respective dates of registration. This provision applies. unless they are registered within one month of execution, in which case priority generally relates back to the date of the instrument. However, for charging orders and pending actions, priority runs from the commencement of the day following the date of actual registration. The ordinance also provides that unregistered instruments, other than bona fide leases at rack rent for any term not exceeding three years, shall be null and void as against any subsequent bona fide purchaser or mortgagee for valuable consideration. Registration is therefore essential to the protection of title, but does not guarantee it.
During the year, 193,092 instruments were registered in the Land Office, compared with 170,054 in 1979. More detailed statistics and comparisons with previous years are contained in Appendix 29. At the end of the year, the card index of property owners contained the names of 383,091 people, an increase of 21,100 over the previous year. Some own several properties, but most are owners or part-owners of small, individual flats.
Urban Renewal and Environmental Improvement
The purchase continued of privately-owned property zoned for open space and government, institutional and community uses in the areas covered by the town plans for Western District, Wan Chai and Yau Ma Tei. During the year, 11 properties were acquired at a cost of $9 million and 36 properties were cleared and demolished. All eligible tenants were offered rehousing and given an ex-gratia allowance upon clearance. The cleared sites, in most cases, will be developed and managed by the Urban Council as open space. In addition, 152 expired-lease properties in Yau Ma Tei and Tai Kok Tsui districts were taken over by the government for direct management.
The land sales programme for the Urban Renewal Pilot Scheme (in an area bounded by Queen's Road Central, Queen's Road West, Hollywood Road, Shing Wong Street and Gough Street) is nearly completed, and it is expected that the one remaining site will be sold by auction in the near future. Accumulated revenue derived from the auction of sites within the scheme has so far reached $574 million.
The Urban Council plans to redevelop the Western District Market, with the associated widening of Morrison Street, in a scheme designed to improve the area's general environ- ment and market facilities. The proposed market complex, which is expected to be com- pleted in 1983, will include a modern market, a district library, indoor games halls and other facilities.
Acquisition for Public Purposes
When private property needed for the implementation of public works projects cannot be acquired by negotiation, the use of compulsory powers becomes necessary. Property is then acquired under either the Crown Lands Resumption Ordinance or the Mass Transit Railway (Land Resumption and Related Provisions) Ordinance. These ordinances provide for the payment of compensation based on market values at the date of reversion. If agreement cannot be reached on the amount payable, either party can refer the case to the Lands Tribunal for determination. In the new town areas of the New Territories, acquisition is usually effected by a system involving the payment of cash compensation in respect of at least half of the land acquired, and the issue of land exchange entitlements in respect of the remainder. These entitlements give the landowner an opportunity to participate in the development of sites.
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