ENG-1974 — Page 131

8

Land and Housing

WITH more than four million people living in an area of only 404 square miles, which includes the New Territories and outlying islands, and with much of the country mountainous and unsuitable for development, building land is at a premium, and substantial government revenue is obtained from land transactions. All land in Hong Kong is owned by the Crown.

Land administration on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon is the responsibility of the Director of Public Works, who is also the Building Authority and chairman of the Town Planning Board. The Director also deals with that part of the New Terri- tories known as New Kowloon, between Boundary Street and the Kowloon Foothills. The Secretary for the New Territories is responsible for land administration through- out the rest of the New Territories.

For Hong Kong Island and Kowloon all leases of Crown land and private land transactions are recorded in the Registrar General's Department, and for the New Territories (with the exception of lots in New Kowloon and a number of lots in the urban parts of the New Territories) such records are kept in the District Offices of the New Territories Administration. The inland lots in the New Territories are mostly located in the built-up area of New Kowloon and deeds relating to them, with a few exceptions, are recorded in the Registrar General's Department.

In the early days of Hong Kong, Crown leases were granted for 75, 99 or 999 years. With the exception of the New Territories, they are now granted for 75 years, usually renewable for a further 75 years at a reassessed Crown rent. Crown leases for New Territories land are now normally granted for a period of 99 years, less three days, from July 1, 1898 and so terminate three days before the expiry of the period of the lease from China.

The government's basic policy is to sell leases to the highest bidder at public auctions and the majority of land available to the general public for commercial and industrial purposes and for residential sites is sold in this way. Regular land auctions are held by the government and a six monthly provisional sales forecast is published listing the Crown land available for sale during the following six months. Leases for certain special purposes are offered for sale by public tender. During 1974 grants by private treaty of two industrial lots on Tsing Yi Island were also made under a newly approved policy for industries which could bring new technology to Hong Kong, but are land-intensive and cannot operate in multi-storey development.

Previously the realised premium was normally payable by a percentage of the sale price on the fall of the hammer and the balance within a short period after the sale. An