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SCMP Reporter

About half of the flat owners whose homes will be demolished to make way for redevelopments in Wan Chai, Shamshuipo and Tai Kok Tsui by the Urban Renewal Authority have agreed to move out.

At the 5pm deadline yesterday, 199 out of a total of 416 affected owners had signed an agreement to move out. There were 30 owners who did not reply to the authority or were untraceable.

A further 187 owners were negotiating with the authority and a few more weeks will be allowed to sort out these outstanding cases, which involve details such as the size of the tenants' new flats or changes of mortgage.

Authority District Development Director Stephen Ng Chin-ming said: 'For those who are still in active negotiation with us, we will not apply a strict deadline and they will still receive the payment pending.'

Mr Ng said the authority had applied to the Government for mandatory resumption of any remaining flats.

Mr Ng said the target was to clear existing buildings from the sites within two years and delays would not be tolerated.

'We wish to resume the land and clear it in a short period of time,' he said.

Mr Ng did not set a date for compulsory evictions, but it is expected that the Government might take months to approve the land resumption application made by the authority.

Dissatisfied owners can apply to the Land Tribunal to overturn the eviction order, but Mr Ng said owners should realise it would involve high legal costs and was time-consuming.

According to the deal, residential flat owners will receive compensation worth as much as the value of seven-year-old flats in the same district.

They will each also receive an extra payment of $105,000.

For commercial units or shops, the owners will receive 30 per cent more than the value of the unit plus an allowance for the resulting loss of business.

Dozens of flat owners yesterday protested at the authority headquarters about the compensation, saying it did not reflect the market.

Yip Mei-yung, who owns a 40-year-old 400-sq-feet flat in Wan Chai, said she would not accept the deal and would not move out unless she was paid the market rate.

Ms Yip said: 'I could not buy a similar flat with the amount they pay me because they base it on a flat's usable area.

'Out there in the market, you buy according to construction area.

'It's not fair and I am not going to give in.'



50pc of flat owners agree to move for renewal projects