Town Planning Board revises guidelines to promote urban redevelopment through cross-district transfer of plot ratio
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The TPB spokesman said, "The pace of building ageing is much faster than that of urban redevelopment and the number of financially viable redevelopment projects is limited these days, hence there is a need to take more innovative and bolder policy measures to expedite urban redevelopment, including making good use of the new land available in the Northern Metropolis to support redevelopment of old urban districts."
Under the existing TPR mechanism implemented as a pilot in Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei since 2023, transfer of permissible gross floor area (GFA) from an unlimited number of "sending sites" (SSs) to, at most, two "receiving sites" (RSs) within the same Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) is allowed. The transfer could be done through a section 16 planning application under the Town Planning Ordinance (Cap. 131) (TPO) to TPB. Transfer of up to 30 per cent of the maximum GFA (the 30 per cent cap) of an RS is permitted, and subject to land premium payment (if any). In order to incentivise the market to use the TPR tool for urban redevelopment, the application criteria are now relaxed with key features as follows:
(a) expanding the scheme to allow cross-district transfers to inject more flexibility in pairing up SS(s) and RS(s). RS(s) can be covered by OZPs different from that/those of SS(s) and in different districts such as the Northern Metropolis or other new development areas that have larger infrastructural capacity to take on additional developments;
(b) extending coverage of SSs to the remaining five designated areas with more pressing redevelopment needs under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance (Cap. 545) (Note) in addition to Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei; and
(c) relaxing requirements for RSs, such as removing the limit of two RSs per application; reducing site area requirement from 1 000 square metres to 700 sq m, taking into account market feedback on difficulties in site amalgamation; extending the coverage to the whole territory including the Northern Metropolis; and allowing minor exceedance of the 30 per cent cap.
To provide added incentive, subject to the TPB's approval on a case-by-case basis, cases fulfilling specified circumstances which would benefit the local community could be provided with certain premium-free GFA within the SS as bonus GFA after the TPR, in order to support the on-going management and maintenance (M&M) of the SS. The specified circumstances cover:
(a) for SS suitable for conversion into public space for public enjoyment, bonus GFA equivalent to plot ratio 0.4 of the SS or 200 sq m, whichever is the less, will be provided to support commercial uses such as retail or eating places to help fund the on-going M&M costs of the public space at the SS;
(b) for conservation of graded historic building at the SS, provided that members of the public can gain reasonable access to part/whole of the building, after transferring the GFA of the existing graded historic building to the RS, GFA equivalent to the GFA of the existing graded historic building can be provided as bonus at the SS with the support of the Commissioner for Heritage; and
(c) for government, institution or community or socially beneficial facilities of the applicant's choice at the SS with the support of relevant government bureaux or departments, the GFA of the facilities concerned may be provided as bonus at the SS.
The TPB notes that the Government will also relax the land premium assessment arrangement for TPR cases to allow the land premium assessment for the SS(s) and RS(s) to be combined even when they are covered by separate land transactions.
If a redevelopment site, be it an SS or an RS, under the TPR scheme can also meet the eligibility criteria under the Bonus Plot Ratio Pilot Scheme, the applicant may concurrently apply for the bonus PR under the Bonus Plot Ratio Pilot Scheme, subject to the 30 per cent cap in the revised TPR guidelines, as well as observing other requirements under both schemes.
The TPB spokesman added, "Each TPR application shall continue to be made under section 16 of the TPO covering both SS(s) and RS(s). Applicants shall demonstrate the technical feasibility of the proposed schemes, and the TPB will consider applications on a case-by-case basis according to the individual merits of the proposal."
Recognising the need for a new policy mindset to tackle urban decay, the Chief Executive announced in his 2025 Policy Address various innovative measures to make use of newly developed land to enhance the market incentives for redevelopment, which include the Bonus Plot Ratio Pilot Scheme and the cross-district TPR scheme.
The revised Guidelines (TPB PG-No. 43A) are now available at the Secretariat of the TPB at 15/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong (tel: 2231 4810 or 2231 4835) and the TPB's website (www.tpb.gov.hk).
Any enquiries on the Guidelines may be addressed to the Secretariat of the TPB at the above address or by email (tpbpd@pland.gov.hk), or to the Planning Enquiry Counters of the Planning Department (hotline: 2231 5000, email: enquire@pland.gov.hk) at 17/F, North Point Government Offices, and 14/F, Sha Tin Government Offices, 1 Sheung Wo Che Road, Sha Tin.
Note: Apart from Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei, the other five designated areas under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance are Cheung Sha Wan (the same OZP covering also Sham Shui Po), Ma Tau Kok (covering Kowloon City and To Kwa Wan), Sai Ying Pun and Sheung Wan (covered by the same OZP), Tsuen Wan, and Wan Chai.
Ends/Friday, August 21, 2026
Issued at HKT 19:35
Issued at HKT 19:35
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