The Land & Building Advisory Committee has welcomed a proposal to lower the compulsory sale threshold for three specified classes of lots under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance. The proposal seeks to further facilitate the land assembly process for private redevelopment.

The Government has launched a consultation on the proposal to make use of an existing mechanism under the ordinance to specify, by way of subsidiary legislation, three classes of lots to enjoy a threshold of not less than 80% when applying to the Lands Tribunal for a compulsory sale of the whole lot for the purpose of redevelopment.

The consultation will run until the end of May. Subject to community consensus over the proposal, the Government plans to take forward the subsidiary legislation in the 2006-07 legislative session.

Committee members were also briefed on the outcome of a review on lease modification to permit change of use for sites previously granted by private treaty, and expressed their support.

The Government announced the outcome of the review in late March. It has decided to maintain the status quo. Applications for lease modification are usually considered if the former permitted use is already obsolete due to changing circumstances, a change in the original land use is confirmed through the statutory town planning procedure for other better uses, and the applicant is prepared to pay full market premium. Each application will be subject to stringent policy scrutiny and thoroughly considered on individual merits, and has to be justified in the public interest.