Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1970-1971 — Page 31

Acquisition of Land by Charities

57. The Charities (Land Acquisition) Ordinance provides that land shall not be assured to or for the benefit of or acquired or possessed by or on behalf of or for the benefit of any charity as defined in the Ordinance or assured, acquired or possessed for any charitable purpose, otherwise than under the authority of a licence granted by the Governor. The power to sign such licences was delegated by the Governor to the Registrar General in 1959, and in 1969 was in addition delegated to the Assistant Registrar General in charge of the Land Office. 56 licences were granted during the year, five to educational bodies, two to welfare bodies, and 49 to religious bodies, including 35 to Protestant bodies, six to Roman Catholic bodies and four each to Buddhist bodies and Taoist bodies. 36 licences were in respect of flats or floors in buildings in urban areas; three in respect of flats or floors in buildings in the New Territories; six in respect of lots in urban areas totalling 103,506 sq. ft.; and 11 in respect of lots in the New Territories totalling 782,208 sq. ft. Table VII gives an analysis of the licences granted (a) for the year and (b) for the whole period since the Ordinance was passed, according to the uses stipulated in the licences.

Sales of Private Properties by The Colonial Treasurer Incorporated

58. Any building to which the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance applies and which is required to be demolished under the Buildings Ordinance may be declared by the Director of Public Works to have become subject to the provisions of the Demolished Buildings (Re- development of Sites) Ordinance. When a re-development notice is thereafter served under the latter Ordinance, the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance ceases to apply to the building and the tenants become entitled to compensation from the owner in accordance with the provisions of the Demolished Buildings (Re-development of Sites) Ordinance. Final awards of compensation are notified in the Gazette and registered in the Land Office, and must be paid within three weeks of the notification thereof. Upon the registration in the Land Office of a final award the amount of the award and interest accrued thereon constitute, until they are paid, a charge on the property in favour of The Colonial Treasurer Incorporated in trust for the persons entitled to the compensation and interest. During the year The Colonial Treasurer Incorporated as chargee exercised its statutory power of sale in respect of two properties com- prising 1,515 sq. ft. at prices totalling $360,000.

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