(Copy)
Enclosure C.
Land Office,
Courts of Justice. Hong Kong.
21st April, 1950.
GRANT OF NEW CROWN LEASES TO REPLACE EXPIRING LEASES OF KOWLOON INLAND LOTS AND KOWLOON MARINE LOTS.
7
Owners of Kowloon Inland Lots or of portions or sections of such lots are hereby reminded that the Crown Leases in respect of certain of these lots, which were granted originally for one term of 75 years, will expire at different dates in the near future, some this year, some in 1951 and others in the immediately following years, and that those intending to apply for the grant of a new lease should make formal application addressed to "the Director of Public Works, Hongkong", or to me stating the Lot Number and the Section or Subsection Number and giving their present address to which the reply is to be sent.
2.
The leaseholders affected are further reminded that on the expiry of the existing lease the land and all buildings thereon revert absolutely to the Crown and it is therefore essential in their own interests that if they intend to apply for a new Lease they should make such application well in advance to give time for the necessary investigation of their title by the Land Office, and for the terms for renewal to be settled prior to the expiry date of the present lease. In the case of land held under leasehold title which expires this year or next year therefore, owners who have not already applied should do so immediately bearing in mind that there is no right to automatic renewal in favour of the present lessee and that though it is customary to accord some priority to application received from the present owners of the property, Government is entirely free to receive and accept offers from new applicants also.
3.
Owners of property held under leases which still have some years of the lease term to run may nevertheless make application in advance for information as to the terms upon which the existing lease will be extended and should of course do so in all cases where re-building or other development during the remaining years of the existing lease is contemplated but no application can be considered in respect of land held under a lease having more than 20 years of the existing term still unexpired.
4.
Though a previous announcement on this subject was published in the press in February 1949 many owners of properties held under leases which will expire in the near future have made no applications for renewal. Individual notifications are being sent to all owners whose leases expire during 1950 but such persons should not wait for the receipt of these notifications as it may not be possible to trace them at their last known address. If the terms for the grant of a new lease are not agreed with Government before the date of the expiry of the existing lease, all rights to apply for the grant of a new lease will expire and the land and buildings will become the absolute property of the Crown.
W. ANEURIN JONES
Registrar General
(Land Officer)
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sir,
(Copy)
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