ENG-1961 — Page 208

170

LAND AND HOUSING

$267,829,584. Additional expenditure in the New Territories (not previously recorded) amounted to $2,978,308, giving an overall total for the Colony of $270,807,892.

The year followed the usual pattern, and most of the new buildings were designed for domestic occupation. Some 80% of all new buildings were for residential purposes. As in previous years the greater part of this accommodation was erected by private developers, although the Housing Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society and the Local Government Officers' Co- operatives all made substantial contributions in this sphere.

New factories and workshops still comprised the greater part of new non-domestic buildings, while development of commercial buildings, schools and hospitals followed the steady high level of previous years.

The increase in sales of Crown land, particularly in the Kwun Tong and San Po Kong areas, during the latter part of 1960 partly contributed to the continued rising trend in private capital expendi- ture on building works. There are grounds for supposing that increase in expenditure will continue in view of large sales in both Hong Kong and Kowloon during the year. A further contribut- ing factor is the tremendous increase in the number of cases dealt with by the Tenancy Tribunals in connexion with re-development schemes. This fact clearly demonstrates that capital continues to be attracted to the redevelopment of old lots, particularly in the main business and shopping areas of the Colony, notwithstanding the high compensation which has to be paid by owners to sitting tenants for vacant possession. With few exceptions these sites are redeveloped with taller buildings, replacing over-crowded, old and dilapidated tenements.

Construction. The steady rise in cost of land, particularly noticeable in the central areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon, has understandably resulted in taller buildings, the design of which immediately gives rise to expensive structural considerations not encountered in lower buildings. Labour is abundant and cheap by world standards, but the continued boom in private building, together with the extensive building operations carried out by Government, has led to a shortage of skilled building labour, which in turn has caused wages for skilled workmen to rise by an estimated 60% in the past two years.