29.
- 9
Renewal for 75 years with advance of Crown rent to current rates, and without fine; compensation to be paid if the land was resumed by Government for any public purpose.
4-4-
Messrs. Dennys & Bowley, solicitors, Hong Kong, wrote to
the Government on the 8th March, 1912, enclosing a petition from
persons interested in house property on the Peak who sought to have
the general understanding clearly defined. They asked that lessees
of lots under 75 year leases be given a title to a renewal for a like
term of years on the expiration of such leases.
3J.
The reply was not given until the 8th March, 1915, which
makes it reasonable to assume that its terms had been carefully con-
sidered, both here and at the Colonial Office. It was stated that
the Government was not prepared to entertain the prayer of the
petitioners but that, in the event of the land not being required for
public purposes on the expiration cf the lease, the lessee would be
entitled to a renewal for 21 years at a fair rent to be determined,
failing agreement, by arbitration. (Later, the Secretary of State
agree to substitute 75 years for 21 years as the renewal period.)
It was also laid down in the Government's letter of 8th March, 1915,
that, if any land under building lease was required on the expiration of the lease for public purposes, no compensation for buildings on the land would be given. Although this letter began by stating that the Government was not prepared to entertain the prayer of the petitioners, it in effect offered them exactly what they asked for (once the amendment from 21 years to 75 years had been made). The lessees wanted a second term: this was agreed to. It is unlikely that they expected to get this except on payment of the fair rent of the day. We have no evidence that the Secretary of State's consent to substitute "75 years" for "21 years" was ever communicated to
Messrs.
Dennys & Bowley.
31. The important point to notice in this statement is that the
Government was offering renewal at a fair rent, in the event of the
land not being required for public purposes on the expiration of the
lease. This therefore confirmed the public's impression that renewal
would be granted on expiry, at a re-assessed Crown rent, and without