Public views are being sought on proposals to lower the compulsory sale threshold for three specified classes of lots under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance to facilitate private redevelopment.

The Housing, Planning & Lands Bureau said the proposals aim to facilitate the land-assembly process for private redevelopment.

Under the ordinance, the Chief Executive in Council may specify by notice in the Gazette certain classes of lots for which a compulsory sale threshold of not less than 80% will apply. The Gazette notice is subsidiary legislation.

Proposal details

The Government is proposing to specify the following three classes of lots to be subject to a threshold of not less than 80% when applying to the Lands Tribunal for a compulsory sale under the ordinance:

* a lot with "all units but one" acquired;

* a lot with building(s) aged 40 years or above; and

* a lot with missing/untraceable owners, with the number of missing/untraceable owners accounting for at least 10% of undivided shares of the lot.

The bureau has tried to maintain a balance between facilitating private-redevelopment efforts and protecting individual property rights.

Coming into operation in 1999, the ordinance provides that other than as a mortgagee, any person who owns at least 90% of undivided shares in a lot may apply to the Lands Tribunal for a compulsory sale of the entire lot for redevelopment purposes.

The Lands Tribunal will hear minority owners' objections over the valuation of properties and consider, among other things, if the lot's redevelopment is justified based on the existing development's age or state of repair and whether the majority owner has taken reasonable steps to acquire all the undivided shares in the lot before making an order for sale.

The bureau is now seeking relevant professional bodies' views and those of the industry on the practicability of the three proposed classes of lots.

Public forums, group discussions

The community's views on the proposals will be collected through public forums, group discussions with property owners and the Government's Public Affairs Forum on the Internet.

Subject to community consensus over the proposed classes of lots, the Government plans to take forward the legislative exercise in the 2006-07 legislative session.