Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1968-1969 — Page 21

land and building at the date of expiry of the lease. During the holding- over period he may sublet the premises or assign them as a whole with the right to apply for a regrant. At any time during the holding-over period, an owner can apply for a regrant for a term of 75 years from the date of expiry of the original lease.

38. Although as stated in paragraph 31 the practice of issuing 75- year leases renewable for a further 75 years was not instituted until 1898, there are a few cases where owing to a right of renewal having been engrafted on to an original non-renewable 75-year lease as part of conditions of modification of a lease or of extension to a lot, the original term either has already expired or is due to expire shortly. The renewal clause in the lease provides that on the expiration of the original term a new lease will be granted 'at such rent as shall be fairly and impartially fixed by the Director of Public Works as the fair and reasonable rental value of the ground at the date of such renewal'. The rent has therefore to be fixed by reference to the rental value of the ground irrespective of what buildings actually stand thereon, and as there has been an enormous increase in land values since such leases were granted, strict adherence by the Government to its legal rights would mean that in every case where a property was not devel- oped to the full extent permitted by the lease the owner would, notwithstanding that the building on the lot was in good condition, be obliged, in order to be able to meet the greatly increased rent, either to redevelop or, if he did not himself have the necessary funds, to sell the lot for redevelopment. To meet this situation Government gives the lessee the choice of renewing on the normal terms or of surrendering his existing lease and receiving a new one in which devel- opment would be restricted to that existing on the property at the time. In that case the rent would be re-assessed on the basis of the restricted development and so be considerably lower. If at a later date the lessee wishes to redevelop his lot more intensively he can apply for a modification of the lease restrictions and pay the full increased development value in a lump sum within a specified time, not being later than the date of the first assignment of the whole or part of the property. The re-assessed Crown rent would however remain unaltered.

39. Two concessions were announced by the Government on 8th July 1967. The first of these was that at any time within 20 years of the expiry of the original lease a lessee who wishes to redevelop his

15