1 Kwun Tong home owners hope for holiday windfall
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 ADELE WONG

Residents are hoping for a HK$10,215 per square foot Christmas windfall from the Urban Renewal Authority's Kwun Tong Town Centre Project.

Active owners who have formed a 1,000-strong alliance, headed by Helen Wong Ya-man, have hired an independent surveyor, Wayne Lee Wing-kwan, to assess the amount of compensation they should receive for their homes. Lee has come up with HK$10,215 per square foot by comparing flats in different districts.

According to Lands Department guidelines for compensation, the comparison should be with replacement buildings about seven years old and similar in characteristics and accessibility.

Since the Kwun Tong area has no buildings in that age range, Lee compared flats in Hung Hom, Tsim Sha Tsui and other districts which he deemed to be similar in characteristics to Kwun Tong.

The URA will be presenting its own assessment results from 11 surveyors to the residents before Christmas, although residents have asked for a more open discussion on compensation matters.