The Development Bureau submitted to the Legislative Council last Tuesday (May 3) to optimize the compensation arrangements for land owners and business operators under the government's land resumption project, mainly for land owners and business operators. Make adjustments, including merging the four levels of the "Preferential Zoning Compensation System" into two levels, updating the parameters of the calculation formula for the regular adjustment of the Zoning Compensation System, and relaxing the operating period and area limits of the ex-gratia allowance for open-air or outdoor business operators, etc. etc. Among them, the two measures of "increasing the amount of ex-gratia compensation" and "relaxing allowances" are the most concerned and questioned by the outside world.
The Land Resumption Ordinance provides for two ways of compensating owners.
The first is the “Compensation Offer” proposed by the authorities. The relevant price is determined according to the Lands Department’s preferential compensation mechanism, which is divided into agricultural land and residential land. For example, as of April 1 this year, the basic fixed rate of compensation for agricultural land is 1,085 yuan per square The land is 2,152.5 yuan; in addition, the agricultural land is divided into four grades A, B, C, and D according to the development level, and then the compensation price per square foot is calculated according to 120%, 75%, 50% and 30% of the basic fixed rate. When the land is closer to new In the case of a town development zone, the compensation amount is higher.
The second is when the owner does not agree with the government's preferential compensation in the "compensation offer", and makes a "compensation claim" calculated on the basis of the market price on the day of the acquisition, which is also called "statutory compensation", which usually leads to a protracted judicial process. Often only big landlords or real estate developers can handle it.
Under the new scheme, some land owners will receive higher compensation than the existing mechanism.
(Screenshot of government document)
This optimization plan involves the first type of "Preferential Zoning Compensation System".
First, combine the four zoning levels into two - "Level 1" is applicable to land required for development purposes, such as new development areas, housing, economic development purposes and related public facilities, and the compensation amount is equivalent to the current compensation level in District A ; "Tier 2" is applicable to land not required for development purposes, including rural improvement and conservation purposes, and the compensation amount is half of Tier 1.
The Development Bureau estimates that under the new arrangement, the compensation expenditure will increase by 6.3 billion yuan in the next five years.
Lau Kwok-hun, a member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, believes that increasing costs can reduce disputes over land resumption and help promote the construction of public housing.
Huang Shunhuan, co-convener of the External Affairs Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, also agreed, but reminded the government that if it wants to "buy time with money," it must properly manage financial issues.
Lau Kwok-hsun believes that increasing costs can reduce disputes over land resumption and help promote the construction of public housing.
(Photo by Su Weiran)
At first glance, the new plan is not unreasonable. After all, "money can make a ghost run the mill", but is the problem really that simple?
Chen Jianqing, a member of the local research society, does not agree with the so-called optimization plan.
Regarding "buying time with money", Chen Jianqing believes that the key lies in the government's determination and courage. "If the government has the will to reclaim land, they can use the old mechanism to do so." Nor does it necessarily improve the land resumption process.
As for the villagers and landlords who often criticize the original four-tier system for being unfair, because the land compensation prices are far apart along the way, Chen Jianqing also retorted that as long as there is a land-grading system, it is difficult to satisfy everyone. The same situation will occur, some land is included in the development zone, and the price of the land next door that is not included in the development zone is also very different.”
Chen Jianqing is even more worried that once the authorities arbitrarily revise the original compensation plan, other serious problems may arise.
The local research agency released the old preferential compensation area plans on social media.
(Screenshot from Facebook of the Local Research Society)
Chen Jianqing pointed out that although the four-tier mechanism cannot satisfy all stakeholders, it has clear criteria and a map to follow. The Lands Department has always compensated according to the relevant geographical location, and since the zoning mechanism was changed from seven to four in 1985 After this, the Hong Kong government has drawn up a color map to show the categories at all levels, and updated it every year for public inspection and reference, reducing the room for disputes to a certain extent; however, if the mechanism is to be updated, the government will simply use "development purposes" Judging from the fact that the authorities have always been criticized for being quite polite to landlords in the past, it is hard to avoid suspicion that landlords may be more likely to influence or even dominate border delineation, and directly obtain more preferential compensation.
Secondly, human nature is inherently greedy. Landlords who succeed in raising prices for land may in the future eat the marrow and know the taste, creating greater resistance to land acquisition in exchange for more preferential compensation, which in turn hinders the process of land acquisition.
Chen Jianqing said that according to the history of land administration in Hong Kong, there has never been an absolutely fair land resumption criterion, so each method of land resumption has encountered disputes; he expects that new disputes will also arise in the future. By raising the compensation price of farmland to Class A, in a sense, the government is letting them get what they want this time, and it can be said that they are allowed to take whatever they want.”
Chen Jianqing questioned whether the use of public funds was for the big landlords, or to take care of those who were most affected during the land resumption process.
(Photo by Yu Junliang)
For details, please read the 316th issue of "Hong Kong 01" e-Weekly Newsletter (May 10, 2022) "The Pros and Cons
of Increasing Owners' Preferential Compensation and Speeding up the Land Resumption Procedure - How to Ensure Public Funds Are Used Well?
".
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