Change in Use of Land：A Practical Guide to Development in Hong Kong, Second Edition

The major difficulties facing professionals in real estate development in Hong Kong involve the use and development intensity of land, the complicated procedures and the mass of building laws. This book is a guide to tackling these difficulties. It provides an account of the concept of the use and change in use of land; followed by an outline of the procedures for lease modifications and waivers, planning applications, reviews and appeals, and building applications and appeals. It also includes an overview of government enforcement against contravention of lease conditions; provisions of statutory town plans prepared under the Town Planning Ordinance; and provisions of the Buildings Ordinance.

A number of problems based on real life scenarios are offered. They can help developers avoid litigation with and complaints against government due to ignorance of the relevant institutional, procedural and policy arrangements. For practitioners and policy analysts, the detailed appendices in this book provide vital statistical information on both aggregate and non-aggregate development applications. They enable better appreciation of the chance of success of applications for specific uses, locations or sizes of development on a zone-by-zone basis in the light of refutable hypotheses.

This second edition has updated the law and planning statistics notably the amendment to the Town Planning Ordinance in 2005, which broadens public participation and establishes a procedure for rezoning applications, and brought all essential planning application and approval/rejection statistics updated to September 2008 by class of zone by area. The common law cases relating to development approvals involved have also been updated. There has been no comparable/rival book or article that has depicted the development approval procedures involving the lands, planning and building procedures with reference to scholarly research so clearly.

Lawrence Wai-chung Lai, a professor in the Department of Real Estate and Construction, and a holder of an Outstanding Young Researcher Award, of University of Hong Kong, is the author or co-author of more than ten books on the built environment. He specializes in the economic analysis and practice of town planning and environmentalism.

Daniel Chi-wing Ho is an associate professor and Head (2006–2009) in the Department of Real Estate and Construction, University of Hong Kong. His research interests include the assessment of building quality, development control and facilities management.

Hing-fung Leung is an associate professor and head (2003–2005) in the Department of Real Estate and Construction, University of Hong Kong. He is also a Barrister of the High Court of Hong Kong.

The authors have been appointed to serve on various government committees and panels.

"This book, with its wealth of information and applied nature, will fit very well as a textbook for students and a useful practice guide for practitioners." – Professor Edwin Hon-wan Chan, Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University