No. 287.
82846
GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
HONG KONG,
17th June, 1931.
REC
2 0 JUL 1931 DOL, OFFIOM
21
Ali bog 16 Rural to
3) on
42867130
M.0.6140/98
My Lord,
I have the honour to refer to Mr. Chamberlain's
despatch No. 132 of the 23rd of May, 1898, on the subject
of the period for which future leases of Crown Land in
Hong Kong should be granted. In that despatch Your
Lordship's predecessor laid down the rule that no
further leases for 999 years should be granted without
previous reference to His Majesty's Secretary of State
in each instance, and leases have accordingly, since
1898, been granted for terms of 75 years only, renewable
for further terms of 75 years at re-assessed Crown Rents.
Before this decision was reached however it had been
customary in the case of town and suburban lots to grant
leases for terms of 999 years. Many of the lots so
leased were of considerable size and have been developed
by the building of large numbers of houses on each Lot,
and, with the passage of time, the Lots have been
extensively subdivided, with the result that portions of
a single original Lot are now frequently in the hands of numerous individuals.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD PASSFIELD,
&c.,
&c.,
&c.
2.