ENG-1983 — Page 179

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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

district lands offices: two on Hong Kong Island, two in Kowloon and eight in the New Territories. District lands officers are responsible for most aspects of land administration and land disposal, while the headquarters formulates territory-wide policy and gives guidance on more complex matters. The establishment of district lands offices hast paralleled the District Administration Scheme and the setting up of district boards throughout Hong Kong. The district lands officers are members of these boards and are therefore in a position to respond both quickly and sympathetically to district needs.

Land Supply

All land in Hong Kong is owned by the Crown, which sells or grants leasehold interests. In the early days, Crown leases were for terms of 75, 99 or 999 years. They have now been standardised in the urban areas of Hong Kong and Kowloon to a term of 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 land in the New Territories and New Kowloon are normally sold for the residue of a term of 99 years less three days from July 1, 1898.

The government's land policy is to optimise the use of land within the framework of land use zoning and development plans. Most land available for commercial, industrial or residential (other than public housing) development in the urban areas is sold by public auction or tender. Regular auctions are held by the government and a six-monthly provisional Crown land sales forecast is published twice a year. In the towns of the New Territories, however, where much of the development land has to be resumed, a high proportion of development land is disposed of by tender.

Leases for certain special purposes, which have particular site requirements or other factors which would make a public auction inappropriate, are offered for sale by public tender. These special purposes include capital-intensive industries, introducing higher technology and more technological skills into Hong Kong, which could not be appropri- ately housed in multi-storey buildings. Such sales are initiated only in response to formal applications and in certain circumstances may be concluded by private treaty, subject to the approval of the Governor-in-Council.

The formulation of overall targets for the production and sale of land is the responsibility of the Special Committee on Land Supply, which is advised by the Lands Department and other departments. A Land Disposal Sub-Committee formulates and monitors a land sales programme, while specific sites are identified and collated in the Lands Department.

1983 witnessed the continuing downtrend in both values and development activity that had been detected during the previous year. Conscious of the need to sustain private sector involvement, the Lands Department has been quick to respond to this position by taking a flexible and lenient approach on certain aspects of development in order to render assistance. Examples of this have been the sympathetic consideration of applications for modifications to permit construction of smaller residential units, reduction in parking requirements and a reduction in the premium charged for extending the time limits imposed for completion of development.

Low-rent and low cost housing is provided by the Hong Kong Housing Society under the Urban Improvement Scheme or by the Housing Authority and the private sector in joint ventures under the Private Sector Participation Scheme. Land for such purposes is granted by the government. In all such cases, the government reserves the right to nominate purchasers of individual flats provided under the scheme.

It is also government policy, in certain areas, to modify old lease conditions which restrict the development permitted on a lot in order to allow redevelopment complying with