NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION) ORDINANCE

NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION) ORDINANCE

LAWS OF HONG KONG

NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION)

ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 150





CHAPTER 150

NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION) ORDINANCE

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section Page
PART 1

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title and commencement .........2
2. Application ..........................2
3. Interpretation .......................2
4. Note to be made in Land Office register of all special purpose leases 3
5. Option by the lessee .................4

PART II

EXTENSION OF NEW TERRITORIES LEASES

6. Extension of leases ..................4

7. Burdens and covenants ....................................... 4

PART III

RENT DURING EXTENSION

8. New rent generally ...................5
9. New rent of rural holdings ........... 6

PART IV

MISCELLANEOUS

10. Breaches of covenants ...............7
11. Power to make regulations ........... 7

Schedule ..........................................................................................................................
...........................................8





CHAPTER 150

NEW TERRITORIES LEASES (EXTENSION)

To provide for the extension of certain leases of land in the New Territories.

[Parts I and IV: 26 February 1988 L.N. 48/88

Parts II and III: 25 April 1988]

Originally 7 of 1988

Preamble

WHEREAS the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom and the
Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong
signed in Beijing on 19 December 1984 provides that certain leases of land
expiring before 30 June 1997 may be extended until not later than 30 June 2047:

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Ordinance may be cited as the New Territories Leases (Extension)
Ordinance.

(2) This Ordinance shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the
Governor by notice in the Gazette and different days may be appointed for different
provisions.

Application

2. This Ordinance applies to every New Territories lease that exists at the
commencement of this section and that, but for this Ordinance, would expire before
30 June 1997, not being

(a) a short term tenancy;

(b) a lease for special purposes; or

(e)a lease in respect of which the lessee registers a memorandum under
section 5.

Interpretation

3. (1) In this Ordinance-

'appointed day' means the day appointed* under section 1(2) for section 6 to come
into operation;

The appointed day is 25 April 1988 see L.N.
48/88.





'Land Office register' means the register that is kept in the Land Office, under the
Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128), in respect of land that is the subject of
a New Territories lease;

'lease for special purposes' means

(a) a lease that satisfies the description in subsection (2) but is not(i) a
short term tenancy;

(ii) a lease of any of the lots specified in Part 11 of the Schedule; or (iii) a
lease granted to the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Mass Transit
Railway Corporation, the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation or the
Hong Kong Housing Society;

(b) a lease of any of the lots specified in Part 1 of the Schedule;

'New Territories lease' and 'lease' mean a lease of land in the New Territories
granted by or on behalf of the Governor and include an agreement to grant
such a lease;

'short term tenancy' means a lease expressed to be granted for a term of not more
than 7 years; and in calculating that period for the purpose of this definition
there shall be excluded any extension or renewal of the lease that has occurred,
or may occur, by virtue of the exercise of any right.

(2) The lease description referred to in the definition of 'lease for special
purposes' in subsection (1) is that the lease

(a)contains a prohibition, expressed or intended by the parties to enure for
the full term of the lease, against the assignment of the land that is the
subject of the lease or of any interest therein; and

(b)contains no provision whereby the land that is the subject of the lease,
and every interest therein, could be assigned by the lessee upon the
occurrence of any event or contingency, or upon compliance with any
condition,

whether or not the express provisions of the lease permit the land that is the subject
of the lease, or any interest therein, to be assigned with the consent of the lessor or
any Government authority, or to be charged, mortgaged or sublet.

Note to he made in Land Office register of all special purpose leases

4. (1) Where a lease is a lease for special purposes, the Land Officer shall make
a note to that effect in the Land Office register before the appointed day.

(2) A lease shall for the purposes of this Ordinance be conclusively deemed

(a)to be a lease for special purposes if, before the appointed day, a note has
been made by the Land Officer in the Land Office register to the effect that
it is such a lease;

(b)not to be a lease for special purposes if no such note has been made by
the Land Officer in the Land Office register by the appointed day.





Option by the lessee

5. (1) A lessee may exclude from the application of this Ordinance his interest
under a lease, other than an undivided share in the land to which the lease relates,
by registering in the Land Office register, before the appointed day, a memorandum
in a form specified by the Land Officer.

(2) In this section 'lessee'-

(a)means a person whose name is registered in the Land Office as owner,
leaseholder or holder; and

(b)where more than one person is so registered in respect of the same
interest or, in addition to any person so registered, any other person has
an interest under

(i) an agreement for sale; or

(ii) a mortgage,
registered in the Land Office, means all of them acting jointly.

PART II

EXTENSION OF NEW TERRITORIES LEASES

Extension of leases

6. The term of a lease to which this Ordinance applies is extended, from the date
on which it would, apart from this Ordinance,'expire, until the expiry of 30 June 2047,
without payment of any additional premium.

Burdens and covenants

7. (1) During the period of the extension of a lease under section 6, the lease
and any interest therein created by or under an instrument registered in the Land
Office shall, unless the contrary intention appears from the instrument, be subject to

(a)the same encumbrances and interests as applied immediately before the
period of extension, including

(i) any mortgage or charge, whether legal or equitable.,

(ii) any public rights;

(iii) any mutual covenants, rights, easements, tenancies or other
burdens of whatsoever kind or nature;

(b)the same covenants, exceptions, reservations, stipulations, provisos and
declarations (including the right of re-entry) as applied immediately before
the period of extension, except the reservation of and covenant to pay
rent;

(c)a reservation of a rent payable under section 8 or 9; and

(d)a covenant by the lessee to pay that rent in the same manner and on the
same days as applied immediately before the period of extension or in the
manner and on the days prescribed.





(2) The rights and obligations of any person under any encumbrance, interest,
covenant, exception, reservation, stipulation, proviso or declaration mentioned in
paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of subsection (1) shall, unless the contrary intention
appears from the instrument creating that encumbrance. interest, covenant,
exception, reservation, stipulation, proviso or declaration, continue during the
period of the extension of a lease under section 6 as if that period of extension were
expressly mentioned in the instrument.

(3) Where the provisions of a lease whose term has been extended by section 6

(a)empower the lessor, subject to the payment of compensation to the
lessee, to resume the land that is the subject of the lease; and

(b)prescribe a method of calculating the compensation that includes
references to

(i) a fraction, whose numerator is the figure one, of any sum; and

(ii) the portion of the term that is unexpired at the date of resumption,

the method of calculation shall be applied as if the denominator in the fraction were
greater by 50 than that specified in the lease and as if the lease had originally been
expressed to be granted for a term that included the period for which the lease is
extended by section 6.

PART III

RENT DURING EXTENSION

New rent generally

8. (1) During the period of the extension of a lease under section 6, the annual
rent shall be an amount equal to 3 of the rateable value from time to time of the land
leased.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the rateable value at any time of the land
leased

(a)shall be the rateable value of the tenement or, if there is more than one
tenement, the aggregate rateable value of all the tenements, wholly or
partly comprised in that land, contained

(i) in a list in force at that time that was declared; and

(ii) in any interim valuation in force at that time that was made, by the
Commissioner of Rating and Valuation under the Rating Ordinance (Cap.
116); and

(b)may for this purpose include any rateable value specified in a valuation in
force at that time that was made under regulations made under this
Ordinance.

(3) The rateable value ascertained under subsection (2) may be an aggregate of
any of the rateable values mentioned in that subsection and shall be subject to any
apportionment of rateable values made by the Commissioner under regulations
made under this Ordinance.





(4) This section does not apply to leases to which section 9 applies.

(5) In this section, 'land leased' includes an undivided share in the land
leased.

(6) Subject to this Ordinance, the Rating Ordinance shall apply to the
assessment of rateable values under this Ordinance.

New rent of rural holdings

9. (1) During the period of the extension under section 6 of a lease to which this
section applies, the annual rent shall be the annual rent payable immediately before
the period of extension.

(2)(a) Subject to paragraphs (b), (c) and (d), this section applies to a lease of
an old schedule lot, village lot, small house or similar rural holding, which

(i) on 30 June 1984 was held by an indigenous villager, or by a tso or
t'ong recognized as such under Chinese custom all of the members of
which were on that date indigenous villagers; or

(ii) in the case of a small house granted after 30 June 1984, is granted to
an indigenous villager.

(b)This section shall not apply, or shall cease to apply, to a lease if at any
time the whole of the land that is the subject of the lease is conveyed to a
person who is not a lawful successor, in the male line, to the indigenous
villager holding the lease on 30 June 1984 or, in the case of a small house
granted after that date, holding the lease on the date of that grant; and
shall continue to be inapplicable whether or not that land is thereafter
conveyed to a person who is such a successor.

(c)This section shall not apply, or shall cease to apply, to an interest in a
lease at any time after that interest is conveyed to a person who is not a
lawful successor, in the male line, to the indigenous villager holding the
lease or interest on 30 June 1984 or, in the case of a small house granted
after that date, holding the lease on the date of that grant; and shall
continue to be inapplicable whether or not that interest is thereafter
conveyed to a person who is such a successor.

(d)This section shall not apply, or shall cease to apply, to a lease held by any
tso or t'ong whose membership at any time does not consist entirely of
indigenous villagers; and shall continue to be inapplicable
notwithstanding any further changes in the membership of the tso or t'ong
or any conveyance of the lease, or any interest in the lease, to any other
person.

(3) In this section-

'established village' means a village established under a block lease granted by, or
on behalf of, the Governor;

'indigenous villager' means a person who was in 1898 a resident of an established
village in the New Territories or is descended through the male line from such a
person;

'lawful successor' includes a lawful successor according to Chinese customary law
in operation in the New Territories;


'old schedule lot' means land held under a block lease granted by, or on behalf of,
the Governor to the persons described in the schedules to those leases;

'similar rural holding' includes land granted to an indigenous villager in place of
other land previously held by him;

'small house' means land held under a lease granted under the Small House Policy;
and

'village lot' means land granted before the operation of the Small House Policy, for
the extension or improvement of an established village.

(4) Where any question arises in any proceedings as to whether or not this
section applies to a lease or an interest in a lease, a certificate purporting to be
signed by the Director of Buildings and Lands stating any fact relating to that
question shall be admissible in evidence on its mere production and shall be
conclusive evidence of that fact.

PART IV

MISCELLANEOUS

Breaches of covenants

10. Nothing in this Ordinance shall constitute a waiver of any right arising out
of a breach of a covenant committed before the appointed day.

Power to make regulations

11. The Governor in Council may by regulation-

(a) provide for ascribing rateable values to land not already rated;

(b)provide for ascribing rateable values to undivided shares in land, taking
into account any right to exclusive use of a building, part of a building or
part of the land attached to those undivided shares;

(c)provide for the manner of assessment of rateable values and the
apportionment of those rateable values (including rateable values under
the Rating Ordinance (Cap. 116)) to difrerent parts of tenements, land or
undivided shares in land;

(d)provide for the apportionment and collection of rent, with the rates or
otherwise, in accordance with those rateable values (including
apportionment to difrerent parts of tenements, land or undivided shares in
land);

(e)provide for the primary liability to pay rent under a lease extended by this
Ordinance and the right of the person with that primary liability to recover
that rent, or part, from owners;

provide for modification of any lease in relation to the manner or time of
payment, the collection and apportionment, of rent;

(g)provide for exemptions from the obligation to pay rent under a lease
extended by this Ordinance;







(h) provide for the means of identification of tenements in any valuation
list or rating valuation with any land leased;
(i) provide for entries to be made in the Land Office register;
(j) provide for the modification of the application of the Rating Ordin-
ance to the assessment of rateable values under this Ordinance;
(k) prescribe forms; and
(1) generally, provide for the better carrying out of the provisions and
purposes of this Ordinance.
SCHEDULE [s. 3]

PART I

Lots specifically included in the definition of lease for special purposes

1. Kwai Chung Lot No. 4
2. Kwai Chung Lot No. 5
3. New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 5611
4. New Kowloon Inland Lot No. 59 10
5, New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 15
6. New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 17
7, New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 22 and Extension
8. New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 23
9. New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 24
10. New Kowloon Permanent Pier No. 25
11. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 17
12. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 20
13. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 21
14. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 23
15. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 28
16. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 29
17. Tsuen Wan Permanent Pier No. 31
18. Lot No. 1405 Section A in Demarcation District 6
19. Lot No, 1405 Section B in Demarcation District 6
20. Lot No. 1405 Remaining Portion in Demarcation District 6
21. Lot No. 4925 in Demarcation District 51
22. Lot No. 2140 in Demarcation District 83
23. Lot No. 3325) Remaining Portion in Demarcation District 102
24. Lot No. 275 in Demarcation District 335
25. Lot No. 725 in Demarcation District 450
26. Lot No. 726 in Demarcation District 450
27. Lot No. 727 in Demarcation District 450
28. Lot No. 1235 in Demarcation District 453

PART II

Lots specifically excluded from the definition of lease for special purposes

1. Sha Tin Town Lot No. 143
2. Tuen Mun Town Lot No. 238
3. Lot No. 758 in Demarcation District 379

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