Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority close to full buyout at To Kwa Wan site after offering host of concessions
- More than 90 per cent of owners have agreed to sell after authority cut premiums by more than HK$60 million and government gave each seller HK$1 million reduction in fees
- Redevelopment of residential block that housed civil servants and one other project nearby will provide more than 3,000 new homes
Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has revealed that more than 90 per cent of owners at a residential block that houses civil servants in To Kwa Wan have agreed to a buyout after it cut premiums by more than HK$60 million (US$7.65 million) and the government agreed to reduce each seller’s administrative fees by HK$1 million.
In an blog published on Sunday, URA managing director Wai Chi-sing said eight of the nine cooperative building societies at the Shing Tak Street site earmarked for redevelopment had dissolved by the end of last month.
The remaining society, consisting of 12 members, also unanimously agreed to disband after the authority provided them with free legal service, Wai said. But the URA had yet to acquire nine of the flats and would consider extending the time limit for selling them if the owners agreed, he added.
The URA announced the redevelopment on Shing Tak Street and another one in the area in May 2020. The projects, which are the biggest it has attempted, will provide more than 3,000 flats, a fivefold increase over the existing number.
Wai revealed the amount of land premium paid for the project was reduced by up to half after the URA convinced the government to calculate the amount according to existing land use value.
The authority also aligned the rate of the premium per square foot to be paid by property owners for the first time and will bear the more than HK$60 million difference, Wai said.
That concession came on top of the HK$1 million reduction in stamp duty and administrative fees the URA worked out with the government, he added.
The authority has provided financial compensation for more than 140 property owners in its acquisition of flats in Kowloon City, Sha Tin and Yuen Long. Forty-three of the sellers accepted arrangements to buy replacement homes, nine of whom chose from options available at an estate in Kai Tak under a “flat-for-flat” scheme.
Wai pledged that the URA would apply its experience at Shing Tak Street to its other project on Kao Pui Lung Road, also in To Kwa Wan, where nine out of the 28 cooperative building societies have not yet dissolved.
The government launched a scheme for the construction of flats for civil servants in 1952 as a form of housing benefit. They were granted land at a concessionary rate, usually one-third the market value, together with government loans.
Tony Tse Wai-chuen, the lawmaker representing the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape constituency, said the URA was facing difficulties in acquiring properties for redevelopment in many of its projects.
“Some property owners do not wish to accept the terms of acquisition due to private reasons and compensation issues,” he said. “They may refuse to sell their properties to the authority if they are not satisfied with the authority’s terms.”
Tse suggested the URA allow owners to voluntarily apply to sell their properties instead of the agency acquiring them to foster competition.
