Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who heads the Legislative Assembly’s 2nd Standing Committee, said yesterday that the government has confirmed that a bill regulating the city’s urban renewal process will apply to all kinds of buildings, namely residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.
The urban renewal bill is being reviewed by the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee after its outline was passed during a plenary session last month.
The committee held a closed-door meeting yesterday to review the bill, after which Chan briefed the media about the committee’s latest discussions on the bill. No government officials attended yesterday’s meeting.
The bill, known as Urban Renewal Law, proposes that the minimum proportion of condominium unit owners required to agree to the redevelopment of their building will be 85 percent for buildings that are between 30 and 40 years old, while only 80 percent of condominium unit owners will be required to agree to the redevelopment of buildings that are older than 40 years.
According to Chan, before yesterday’s meeting the government told his committee that the bill will apply to all buildings regardless of their purpose, namely residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. Chan said that as long as an agreement to redevelop a building has been signed by the condominium unit owners, they can apply to the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) to change the purpose of the building, in which case DSSOPT officials will assess whether to approve the proposed change in the purpose of the building.
Chan noted that, according to the bill, if the condominium unit owners pushing for the redevelopment of their building still cannot persuade the remaining condominium unit owners (i.e., those who do not agree with the redevelopment) to back the project, an arbitration process can be initiated to try to convince the remaining condominium unit owners to “participate in” the redevelopment of their building. Chan said the committee has asked the government to clarify whether it will set up a dedicated agency for such kind of arbitrations.
Chan also said that the bill proposes that condominium unit owners will have to give their tenants advance notice of their plan to redevelop the building so that the latter would have sufficient time to arrange moving out. However, according to Chan, the bill does not regulate any issues concerning compensation for the affected tenants in case that the respective rental contracts will have to be terminated as a result of the building’s redevelopment. Chan said that the committee has asked the government to provide further explanations on the matter.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, talks to reporters after the committee’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government’s urban renewal bill yesterday, while the committee’s secretary, Lam Lon Wai, looks on. Photo: Ginnie Liang
