derived little immediate benefit from the lapsing of the Ordinance, for the tendency throughout the year continued to be towards lower not higher rents.
9. Confidence in the future was shown by two major development companies, one of which is proceeding with a scheme at Shau Kei Wan for 106 shop or other non-domestic units and 1,856 flats, the latter to be sold on instalment terms over a period of 14 years at prices varying from $15,800 to $24,500 per flat, and the other of which is proceeding with the largest private housing development ever known in the Colony at Lai Chi Kok, where it is planned to house 70,000 people in 15,000 flats. There is also the prospect of an enormous amount of redevelopment to come in some of the older parts of the urban areas in which action has been taken in hundreds of cases under the Demolished Buildings (Re- development of Sites) Ordinance to require the owner to re-develop the site of a demolished building. During the year re-development orders were registered in 153 cases making a total of 905 since the Ordinance was passed in 1963.
10. The foregoing is then the background to the Land Office statistics for the year, the salient features of which, summarized from the details given in Part II and the relevant Tables, are as follows. The number of instruments of all categories registered was 43,303, 6,279 less than the total of 49,582 in 1966-67. These included 518 assignments of whole properties, 18,782 assignments of units in buildings, 8,661 mortgages and 3,325 agreements for sale and purchase. The grand total of con- siderations expressed in all instruments was $2,048m., the lowest figure since 1960-61. Declines in aggregate considerations were recorded in all categories. Building mortgages totalled only $18m., as compared with $362m. only three years before. The decline in activity in certain sections of the Land Office enabled good progress to be made in the Crown lease section, and the total of 438 issued was the highest for any post-war year. 542 lots or sections were surrendered to the Crown, and 21 lots re-entered for breach of the lease conditions. The number of landowners (excluding mortgagees) rose by a healthy 15,198 over the previous year to the impressive total of 146,076.
Companies, Trade Marks and Patents
11. Possibly as a result of the year's disturbances there was a sub- stantial drop in the number of new companies incorporated, the total of 1,215 being 213 below the record figure of 1,428 set up in the previous
4
Page 10Page 11