ENG-1961 — Page 204

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LAND AND HOUSING

places were maintained for the first half of the year after which they began to fall. The fall coincided with news of proposed increased restrictions in some of the Colony's principal export markets and the British Government's proposal to negotiate for entry to the European Common Market. By the end of the year there was a partial recovery. In previous years the purchasers of factory sites had been largely established manufacturers. In 1961 the emphasis changed and most factory sites sold by Government were purchased by real estate investment companies.

There was again an increase in the sale of land for housing and, unlike industrial land, the demand for all types was brisk and the upward trend of prices continued. Sales of sites in the vicinity of the recently completed extension of Tin Hau Temple Road, North Point, were started and the price realized for the first site- $2,030,000—exceeded the cost of the road extension works.

Several sites were sold for mixed commercial and residential use including the sites of two blocks of old Government quarters at Yee Wo Street and Wong Nai Chung Road which together realized $11,161,000.

The acreage of land disposed of by private treaty for low-cost housing schemes, non-profit-making schools and other institutional purposes was similar to that disposed of in previous years. The increase in un-alienated land used for resettlement estates and other Government projects was roughly proportional to the in- crease in the vote for the building section of the Public Works Non-Recurrent Vote.

In addition to a greater rate of sale of new lots for residential purposes, there was a further increase in the modification of leases of the kind already described in this Chapter.

The War Department handed over Murray Barracks in Central Victoria. Pending its permanent development a large part of the land was opened as a temporary public car park.

In the New Territories, public interest in the disposal of land has been maintained. Due to the scarcity of Crown land, however, development has proceeded more by the surrender of privately held agricultural land in exchange for building land than by public auction. Land values have continued to rise and applications for sites, particularly since the publication of development plans, show