Expressed as of Total Premises
Valued
Vacant at time of valuation
*No. of Premises
Туре
Valued and
Analysed
Occupied by Owner
Occupied by
Owner and
Wholly
Let
Part Let
Tenement-type
Floors
13,115
22%
16%
57%
5%
Small Flats
3,217
30%
4%
58%
8%
Large Flats
1,804
38%
3%
52%
7%
Western-style
Houses
5+
Totals
18,141
25%
12%
57%
6%
(* The number is a different sample from those premises covered by the special survey)
(+Too small a number to be a guide)
The next question is the price at which different types of property are sold. Price requires certain qualifica- tion for similar properties realize different amounts depending on the time of the transaction, the negotia-
tions, the mode of payment and so on, but in an exercise of this nature it is necessary to sort properties into broad price ranges and as far as possible this was done on the basis of sale-brochure cash prices.
The 14,426 premises built for initial sale comprised:—
Large Flats
Small Flats
Houses
Tenement-type Floors
975
1,606 11,837
8
14.426
Under
Type
$30,000
$30,000/ 100,000
Over $100,000
Totals
Large Flats
270
705
Small Flats
82
1,513
975
1,606
Tenement-type
Floors
4,377
6,881
579
Houses
8
11,837
8
Totals
4,459 (31%) 8,664 (60%)
1,303 (9%) 14,426 (100%)
Drawing the line at $40,000, instead of $30,000, gives the following:-
Туре
Under $40,000
$40,000/
100,000
Over $100,000
Totals
Large Flats
270
705
Small Flats
188
1,407
11
975
1,606
Tenement-type
Floors
7.954
3,304
579
Houses
8
11,837
8
Totals
8,142 (56%)! 4,981 (35%)
1,303 (9%) 14,426 (100%))
(Note: Highly priced tenement floors refer to shops in tenement buildings which also The expensive small flats are small in area
offer domestic accommodation. but well appointed)
Thus, of all the above premises for sale:-
4,459 or 31% are under $30,000 3,683 or 26% are $30,000/40,000 4,981 or 34% are $40,001/100,000 1,303 or 9% are over $100,000 14,426 100%
Although the total of some 8,000 premises awaiting occupation is large it takes on a rather different aspect when viewed in relation to domestic accommodation as a whole and also bearing in mind the increasing rate at which new accommodation is be- coming available. The phenomenon
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19, NUMBER 2
of new construction standing empty is not peculiar to Hong Kong though it is difficult to make com- parisons for in many respects re- development and building in Hong Kong is unique. However the fol- lowing extract from a comment in the London "Estates Gazette" of 31st August, 1963 may be of some interest:-
"That flats in certain areas out- side central London have be- come increasingly difficult to sell or let in recent months is clearly evident to anyone who scans the property advertise- ments in the press. Reports in- dicate, for instance, that Bourne- mouth may have as many as between 2,000 and 3,000 new flats available at the present time."
The population of Bournemouth is 154,000 or less than 1/20th that of Hong Kong. The vacancy position in England is not confined to Bourne- mouth for a Nottingham reader writ-
the ing to
26th same journal on October, 1963 said:-
recently
"A number of blocks of flats have
been erected in this city and offered for letting unfurnished, with the result that a relatively high proportion has remained unlet, probably due to lack of demand at the initial rents quoted a state of affairs which I believe applies in other cities."
The housing problem like other shortages calls for "better supply, quick remedy", within which surely lies the ultimate in targets. The pro- blems of land and building develop- ment are so complex as to preclude a swift remedy, but the increasing rate at which new accommodation is be- coming available is gratifying even if it in turn brings problems of its own.
The object of this paper is to pro- vide more facts and not indulge in those factors which govern the all- important matters of price and rent. The demand for new accommodation remains strong as shown by the high proportion occupied in the first few months following grants of occupa- tion permits and the fact that little remains empty after six months or so. There are also definite signs that apparent sufficiency in a particular class of premises causes the rent ask- ed for that class to drop.
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