"Govt not oliged to help displaced flat owners"

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn on Saturday said the government isn’t obliged to provide extra help to flat owners who are forced to sell their homes under legal changes that will make it easier to redevelop old buildings. Under changes approved by the Legislative Council on Thursday, the proportion of owners who have to agree to a redevelopment plan will fall to as little as 65 percent for properties at least 70 years old, instead of the previous 80 percent. Linn said such deals were a matter for developers and flat owners, not the administration. “The compulsory sales regime is to facilitate the redevelopment of our aged buildings in the private market," she told reporters after attending a radio programme. "So it is activities between the private owners of individual flats and those developers who are interested in acquiring their flats. So there is no question of the government going into this market and having flats built to rehouse those owners affected.” She added that the government will assist minority owners in several ways, including establishing dedicated support centres that offer legal and valuation advice, as well as asking the Urban Renewal Authority to gather owners who would like their flats redeveloped. Separately, the development minister said that developers could be given the responsibility for land formation if they win tenders for sites in the huge Northern Metropolis development. She said the winning consortiums would also need to help build infrastructure and community facilities in the area. “This approach will help reduce the cash flow burden on the government because we do not have to use public funding to do the site formation and other infrastructure on our own,” she said. Linn also cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from the fact that the government recorded revenue of less than HK$200 million from land sales in the first quarter, against a target for the full year of HK$33 billion. She said the situation may change as the year progresses, so there was no need yet to rethink the target.