ENG-1957 — Page 37

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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

the exclusion of controlled premises. In the years immediate- ly following the enactment of the Ordinance in 1947, there were comparatively few applications for exclusion. This was undoubtedly largely because the landlord had to bear the entire costs of any application to a Tenancy Tribunal. Tenants, for their part, faced with the difficulty of finding scarce and possibly more expensive alternative accommoda- tion, had little alternative but to oppose the applications as strongly as they could, because, in law, they could not be compensated in the ordinary,, sense, and were indeed liable to a heavy fine if they accepted any consideration for giving up possession of premises. The new amendment clarified this unsatisfactory state of affairs; since its enactment, com- pensation has been determined at hearings by the Tenancy Tribunals and the amounts awarded are in due course gazetted after the exclusion order has been granted by the Governor in Council.

As indicated, the provisions for the exclusion of premises from the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance have been a very big factor in recent building development in Hong Kong and have frequently resulted in valuable sites, which were insufficiently developed, being cleared for more intensive development. Payment of compensation to tenants about to be dispossessed for rebuilding schemes has led to an increas- ing number of exclusion cases being brought before the Tenancy Tribunals. Prior to the 1955 amendment, exclusion orders had averaged only about half a dozen a year. When tenant compensation was legalized, the number of orders made increased in 1955 to 25 (involving approximately 132. separate buildings), in 1956 to 69 (involving some 195 build- ings) and in 1957 to 120 (involving more than 300 buildings). In this one year more than $8,000,000 was awarded by way of compensation to tenants.

As a result, then, of improved trading conditions, greater confidence, more money available for investment and the enactment of laws freeing the building industry from irksome,