【明報專訊】The Small House Policy (小型屋宇政策) was introduced by the British colonial government in December 1972. The policy allows an indigenous male villager who is 18 years old and is descended through the male line from a resident in 1898 of a recognized village in the New Territories an entitlement to one concessionary grant during his lifetime to build one house.

If the villager holds a piece of agricultural land, he can build the house without having to pay a premium. He can also choose to exchange land with the government at a discount (or without having to pay a premium). If he does not have a piece of land, he can demand that the government grant one (if there is any) by way of private treaty at a discount. These rights are called small house concessionary rights (ding rights,丁權).

The policy

Back in the 1970s, around 60 percent of buildings in the rural area of the New Territories were temporary or illegal. The British colonial government said in a 1972 press release that the Small House Policy was aimed at ''giving people in the rural areas an opportunity to live in decent, safe, bigger and more permanent houses with improved health standards. The measures set out in the policy are interim measures which will complement the major job of producing a comprehensive plan for the development of the rural New Territories.''

Sale of concessionary rights

The sale of concessionary rights is illegal. However, some indigenous villagers ''with concessionary rights but no land'' reached agreements with developers to sell their concessionary rights to them. The developers then transferred land to the villagers. The villagers declared falsely to the Lands Department that they were the owners of such land and applied for the building of small houses, which, after completion, belonged to the developers. In late 2015, 11 indigenous villagers were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and were sentenced to 30 to 34 months in prison. The developer was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.

Sexual discrimination?

The issue of concessionary rights is also related to the Chinese tradition's preference for males over females. Thanks to this ideology, land and property were bequeathed to males but not females. In 1994 Christine Loh, then a lawmaker, tabled an amendment of the law that allowed female villagers to enjoy concessionary rights. The amendment was vetoed. The Sexual Discrimination Ordinance written in 1995 states that the difference in treatment between males and females over the Small House Policy is exempted.

Translated by Terence Yip

[通通識 第618期]