Revised Land Exchange Arrangements to Expedite Implementation of the Northern Metropolis

The Chief Executive has called for the extension of the Enhanced Conventional New Town Approach (ECNTA) to all New Development Areas (NDAs) and the improvement of its operational aspects in the 2023 Policy Address. To this end, details of the revised land exchange arrangements for ECNTA were outlined by the Development Bureau on 28 December 2023. The key points are as follows:

The scope of in-situ land exchange will be broadened to include not only private residential and commercial sites, but also sites for industries and privately-run community or welfare facilities;
If the applicant owns 90 per cent or above of private land within a designated site (and also owns a minimum area of a residential site), the Government may, at its discretion, resume the remaining minority third-party land for granting it to the applicant towards developing the whole site in a consolidated manner—with a view to facilitating the conclusion of more land exchange applications with better layouts. The applicant will be required to pay full market premium for the entire development site (including the minority third-party land) and construct public facilities as specified by the Government;
Under certain circumstances, land exchange applicants may be required to construct relevant facilities by premium deduction, in order to expedite the provision of public facilities serving the residents of the NDAs;
In addition to applicants’ compensation and rehousing package, eligible land occupants will be allowed to opt for the Government’s compensation and rehousing arrangements (including to rehouse to public housing under the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society). However, land exchange applicants are required to reimburse to the Government the full monetary value equivalent to the compensation and rehousing provided to the eligible land occupants, and all other relevant costs involved.

Overall, the revised measures are aimed at advancing the implementation of the Northern Metropolis as well as to reduce the Government’s upfront spending on land resumption and public works.

The ECNTA is currently adopted for the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North NDA and Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen NDA. Practice Notes applicable to individual NDAs will be issued in due course. —Construction+ Online

” Read:

Sources: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; The Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address

You may also like