Following is a question by the Hon Albert Cheng and a reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (November 9):
Question:
The China Motor Bus Company Limited ("CMB") applied to the Administration earlier for modifying the lease of a site located on Kam Hong Street in North Point so as to change the permitted use from provision of staff quarters to commercial/residential use. In August this year, the Government and the CMB reached an agreement on the amount of the land premium payable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the uses of the site since the CMB terminated its bus operation in 1998, and whether it has been left vacant since then;
(b) given that the CMB has terminated its bus operation for many years, of the reasons for not resuming the land and putting it up for bidding by interested property developers; and
(c) of the number of applications approved in the past ten years for modifying the land use of a site from the provision of community or communal facilities to industrial/business or residential use, together with a list of these sites detailing their location, area and original permitted use, as well as the name of the grantee and the amount of land premium for each site?
Reply:
Madam President,
Before replying to the question, I wish to provide Members with some information concerning Government policy on the grant of such land in general and the subject site in particular. The policy of granting land by private treaty for the provision of "workers' housing" started in 1948. The purpose was to address the housing needs of workers, so as to facilitate post-war development of industries and meet the housing needs of the community at that time. Sites were granted to the companies in question for the provision of quarters for their staff and their family members at a premium of one-third of the market value. The policy was fully terminated in 1980, and a total of 27 sites had been granted for the aforesaid purpose before then.
In 1984, the Government reviewed the aforesaid land use and considered that the development potential of most of the sites granted under the "Workers' Housing Scheme" had not been fully realised. Following deliberation, the then Governor in Council decided that for the purpose of making the optimal use of land, the relevant grantees should be allowed to redevelop their sites by applying to the Administration for lease modification, subject to fulfilling the following four principles in their respective cases:
(1) the grantee should be prepared to include in the redevelopment Government accommodation as required by the Government;
(2) rehousing arrangements for existing tenants, to the satisfaction of the Director of Lands and the Commissioner for Labour, will be the responsibility of the grantees;
(3) the modification premium will be charged on the basis of the difference between the fair market value of the site and the "before value", the latter should be one third of the updated residential value of the site; and
(4) an appropriate building covenant will be imposed. The building covenant period will take into account the likely time required to obtain vacant possession of the lot.
Simultaneously, the Director of Lands was authorised by the then Governor in Council to process applications for lease modifications involving sites designated for "Workers' Housing Scheme", provided that they comply with the above-mentioned principles. Up to now, the Director of Lands has approved, in accordance with the said procedure, the lease modification and premium payment for 18 sites while secured the return of two other sites, under the "Workers' Housing Scheme".
The site of the staff quarters of the China Motor Bus Company Limited ("CMB") is located on Kam Hong Street in North Point (Inland Lot No. 7105). The subject site was granted to CMB in 1954 for the provision of quarters for its staff and their family members. My reply to the 3-part question is as follows:
(a) & (b) The subject site continued to be used by CMB as quarters for its staff and their family members until December 2003. In May 2003, CMB applied to the Government for redevelopment of the site by way of lease modification. Under the policy set in 1984, the Director of Lands considered under the delegated authority and subsequently approved the application for lease modification for redevelopment purpose, on the basis of the established principles.
(c) "Land for community or communal facilities" is a planning concept and such description is not used in land leases. The lease conditions would set out in clear terms the permitted uses of a site. For instance, the only permitted uses stated in the lease of the subject site are staff quarters. As regards cases similar to the subject case on Kam Hong Street, the Administration approved a total of three cases of lease modification which involved the change of land use from the provision of "Workers' Housing Scheme" to other uses in the past 10 years. For details, please refer to the Annex.
Ends/Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:09
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