37.
The number of private treaty grants dropped from forty-nine in 1966-67 to forty in 1967-68. The purposes for which these forty grants were made were as follows:
Schools
Grants in lieu of cash compensation for land resumed
Civil Servants' Co-operative Building Schemes
Public Utilities
Welfare and Training Centre
Clinic
Miscellaneous
12
10
7
6
1
1
3
40
38. Applications may be made for the regrant of land held under a non-renewable 75-year lease any time within 20 years from the date of expiry of the term, but applications for regrant are not usually made until the owner is ready to redevelop the lot. This is because the regrant premium is based on the full market value of the land exclusive of the buildings thereon, and as the value of land in all areas despite the reces- sion in prices is still high, it is only by redevelopment that the owner can obtain an economic return on his investment.
39. The premium chargeable for a regrant is calculated according to the area and location of the lot, the user and development restrictions placed upon it, and the length of the existing term, if any, still to run. In certain cases defined in a Government announcement made in October 1960 regrant premiums may be paid by up to 21 equal annual instal- ments incorporating interest at 10% per annum, but with certain excep- tions specified in further announcement in June 1962, the entire balance of premium has to be paid in the event of an assignment or any other type of dealing specified in the announcements. While formerly in cases where a building had been split up into separately owned flats the regrant premium had to be paid in a lump sum if any one of the flat owners had assigned his flat within five years of the date of expiry of the lease or application for a new lease, the premium may now be paid by instalments as announced by Government in February 1967. Only 17 regrants were made during the year, 9 with premiums of less than $100,000, 7 with premiums of between $100,000 and $500,000, and 1 with a premium of more than $500,000. The total of these premiums and modes of payment were as follows:
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