ENG-1975 — Page 122

8

Land and Housing

ALL land in Hong Kong is owned by the Crown and, with much of the 404 square miles being mountainous and unsuitable for development, building land is of con- siderable value. Substantial government revenue is obtained from land transactions, either through sales of Crown land or in stamp duty on conveyancing.

Land administration of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and that part of the New Territories known as New Kowloon is the responsibility of the Director of Public Works. He is also the Building Authority and chairman of the Town Planning Board. The Secretary for the New Territories is responsible for land administration in the New Territories apart from New Kowloon.

In the early days of Hong Kong, Crown leases were granted for 75, 99, or 999 years. Except in the New Territories, they are now granted for 75 years, usually renewable for a further 75 years at a reassessed Crown rent under the provisions of the Crown Leases Ordinance. Crown leases for New Territories land (including New Kowloon) are now normally granted for a term of 99 years less three days as from July 1, 1898, and so terminate three days before the expiry of the lease from China.

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The government's basic policy is to sell land to the highest bidder at public auctions, and the majority of land available to the general public for commercial, industrial or residential development 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 during the following six months. Leases for certain special purposes are offered for sale by public tender.

In recent years, the government has adopted a policy of encouraging private development of large sites-such as the 285-acre site at Tai Shang Wai, Yuen Long, in the New Territories, which it is proposed to develop over an eight-year period as a garden housing estate for 25,000 people. It will be the biggest housing estate developed so far by the private sector in the New Territories. At a seven-acre site on Lantau Island, developers propose to provide a holiday resort within five years, combining residential accommodation with recreational facilities. In September, the government announced its intention to offer for sale by tender, in 1976, an area of 28 acres of land on Ap Lei Chau Island for residential development. The land will be in exchange for a premium coupled with the construction and handing over to the government of a bridge and associated roads linking the island with Aberdeen. It is expected that a population of 28,000 could be accommodated by development of this area. A tender, by way of premium payable to the government, was also accepted for a transaction which requires the tenderer to reclaim 145 acres of fore- shore and sea bed at Sha Tin tide cove in the New Territories. In return, the tenderer