LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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hospitals, and social welfare and other community services. Grants at reduced premium are made to the Hong Kong Housing Society for its Flats-for-Sale Scheme and rental estates, and land grants at full market value premium are made to public utility companies for their installations and related developments.
New government land leases are normally granted at premium for 50 years from the date of grant and subject to an annual rent equivalent to three per cent of the rateable value of the property at the date of grant, adjusted in step with any changes in the rateable value thereafter.
Every year, the Government announces the Land Sale and Development Programmes, which cover land for housing and non-housing development in a five- year period and will be updated and rolled forward before the start of the next financial year. However, since June 1998, as part of the special measures taken in the wake of the economic downturn, the Government suspended all land sales by auction and tender for the remainder of the 1998–99 financial year.
The Government announced in February the resumption of land sales by auction and tender with effect from April. In addition to the publication of the normal date- specific programme for auctions and tenders for the 1999-2000 financial year, a new procedure for land sales by application was introduced with the aim of maintaining stability in the property market and providing flexibility for the Government to make available land for meeting market demand.
During the year, 16 housing sites with a total area of 15.35 hectares and two sites for the Private Sector Participation Scheme with a total area of 4.94 hectares were sold. Eight sites for the Home Ownership Scheme with a total area of 12.54 hectares, three sites for the Buy or Rent Option Scheme with a total area of 14.74 hectares, and six sites for the Tenant Purchase Scheme with a total area of 47.93 hectares were granted to the Hong Kong Housing Authority. One housing site for the Flats-for- Sale Scheme with an area of 0.9 hectare was granted to the Hong Kong Housing Society.
In addition to the Government's Land Sale and Development Programmes mentioned above, the existing large portfolio of privately held leases in Hong Kong are frequently changed and updated on the basis of the lease holders' initiatives to provide for an increased or differing form of development in accordance with planning intentions. These lease changes are effected by either modification or land exchange. During the year, 235 such transactions were concluded, involving a total of 569 hectares.
Land Management and Lease Enforcement
The Task Force (Black Spots) (TFB) was set up in 1994 to clean up environmental black spots in the New Territories. The TFB's main task is to improve the environment of land in the New Territories used for open storage and industrial undertakings which were in existence before 1991. During the year, 303 sites covering 44.44 hectares were improved making a cumulative total of 1 179 sites comprising 118.24 hectares of private land and 32.11 hectares of government land.
The TFB also provides support to the Planning Department in the identification and subsequent disposal of suitable new sites for open storage and vehicle parking purposes, particularly those linked to container freight activities. The TFB's other