ENG-1965 — Page 159

LAND AND HOUSING

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the development of Tsim Sha Tsui was made public in December and the board has been instructed to prepare plans of Castle Peak in the New Territories and Shau Kei Wan.

PRIVATE BUILDING

Completion of many more of the unusually large number of private building schemes initiated in 1963 continued during the year, with the result that the value of buildings certified for occu- pation was $979.1 million; this compares with $838.4 million in 1964. These figures do not, however, indicate the present state of the building industry, which can better be judged by the number of new building projects approved. It is interesting to note that in the four years immediately following the introduction of the Buildings Ordin- ance 1955, the figure for new projects remained stable at an average of 730 a year. Two quiet years followed, with a drop to 484 in 1959, rising again slightly to 564 in 1960. Then the tide suddenly turned and figures rose to 1,312 in 1961, 1,328 in 1962, and to an abnor- mally high peak of 2,578 in 1963. This sudden almost doubling of the figure in 1963 was due to developers submitting (and so ensuring the acceptance of) their proposals before the new and more restric- tive Building (Planning) Regulations took effect on 1st July 1963. In 1964 approvals dropped to 1,031, and this year to 859.

The cause of this year's drop in the number of new projects pro- posed can thus be attributed in part to the very high number of submissions in 1963-which included a great many schemes which would normally have been submitted a year or even two years later --and also to the subsequent completion of many of these schemes, which tended to saturate the property market. This latter factor eliminated the demand for, and attraction of, investment in real estate and resulted in a reluctance in financial circles to grant further building loans.

In addition the provisions of the Buildings (Amendment) (No 2) Ordinance 1964, had a considerable effect on proposals to re-develop the sites of old and dilapidated property. This legislation enabled the Building Authority to prohibit re-development where such work would endanger adjoining property. At the beginning of the year, 283 projects had been held up or affected and, although by the end of the year 221 of these had been started or re-started, over 100 other newly submitted projects were affected. The position was