The Government will impose more stringent requirements when considering applications for "conditional lease modification (including in-situ land exchange)" related to the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North new town extension areas, provided that specified criteria and conditions are met, to ensure compliance with the planning of the New Development Areas (NDAs) and their development schedules.   These requirements mainly include the following four points:

• Applications for lease modification (including in-situ land exchange) are confined to sites planned for private development whereas other private land will be resumed by the Government for development.
• Such applications must meet specified criteria and conditions, including that the proposed site should have an area of not less than 4 000 square metres and all the lots contained therein should be under a unified ownership to ensure planning integrity and comprehensive development.
• The private development must be able to ensure timely supply of housing and other facilities.   For applications of which the development cannot be completed within the specified time frame, the private land involved will be resumed by the Government for development.
• Landowners of lease modification applications should treat the tenants/occupiers equitably by, inter alia, offering them compensation or rehousing comparable to that provided by the Government.

For general cases of private residential development through application for "conditional lease modification (including in-situ land exchange)", given that no resumption of land by the Government is involved, the ex-gratia allowances and rehousing arrangements offered by the Government will not be applicable to the tenants or occupiers of the private land concerned.   However, for safeguarding fair treatment to existing occupiers of the private land concerned within the two new town extension areas, if a landowner wants to develop his land as planned by the Government for private residential/commercial development through application for "conditional lease modification (including in-situ land exchange)", he will be required to provide the tenants or occupiers of his land [Note: i.e. those occupying the private land as at 4 July 2013 (the date when the criteria for applications for in-situ land exchange in the NDAs were promulgated by the Government) or thereafter as registered in LandsD's pre-clearance survey] with compensation or rehousing comparable to the ex-gratia compensation or rehousing arrangement offered by the Government to eligible persons affected by its land resumption.

According to the prevailing requirements applicable to applications for "conditional lease modification (including in-situ land exchange)" related to the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North NDAs, when considering such an application, the Lands Department will require the applicant to provide information to prove that the affected squatter occupants and other land occupiers have been provided with reasonable compensation or rehousing arrangements, and that the persons affected have accepted the arrangements.   When necessary, the applicant will be required to provide the Government with an undertaking and a guarantee deposit in this respect.   If the application meets all relevant requirements, the applicant should deliver up vacant possession of the private land concerned before the specified deadline.   Or else, the application will not be further processed.   The private land under application not accepted for processing will be included in the land resumption for the NDAs.   To tie in with the land resumption schedules for various development phases of the two NDAs, there is a need to set a deadline for considering such applications so as to facilitate the timely commencement of preparatory work for land resumption.   The Lands Department will request applicants to provide information to prove that they have delivered up vacant possession of the private land concerned and properly handled the compensation and rehousing for existing land occupiers.