Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority defends compensation offer to property owners affected by Kowloon City project
- Kowloon City project is expected to create more than 3,000 flats, about five times number of existing homes
- Authority says owner-occupiers will be offered HK$19,848 per square foot of saleable area but those affected are not happy about paying land premium
Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority has defended its compensation offer to property owners affected by the redevelopment of housing blocks once allocated for civil servants, after complaints the amount was smaller than expected because of land premium payments.
The Kowloon City project, located at two sites on Shing Tak Street and Ma Tau Chung Road, as well as Kau Pui Lung Road and Chi Kiang Street, is expected to create more than 3,000 flats, about five times the number of existing homes.
The authority last week announced that under its compensation policy, affected owner-occupiers would be offered HK$19,848 (US$2,544) per square foot of saleable area.
Under the policy, compensation, which is assessed by independent authority-appointed surveyors, is equivalent to the price of a comparable seven-year-old flat in the same district.
Some residents complained the amount offered did not meet their expectations as they were required to pay the land premium – defined as the difference in the value of the property before and after redevelopment – which would in effect lessen their compensation.
“The acquisition offer is similar to the offer of other projects in neighbouring districts, and other measures to assist owners have also taken care of the special circumstances of the civil servants’ home ownership,” authority managing director Wai Chi-sing wrote on his blog on Sunday.
Wai said the property evaluation had taken into account various factors, including the market’s upward trend, as well as the opening of the Tuen Ma MTR line, which would push up home prices in the district.