New guidelines set for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok plot ratio transfer

The guidelines include a new planning tool between sites.

The Town Planning Board revealed new guidelines for a pilot scheme on plot ration transfer in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok to provide an incentive to fast-track urban regeneration through private initiatives.

Taking immediate effect, the new guidelines have a new planning tool allowing the transfer of plot ratio (TPR) between sites through the processing of a section 16 planning application under the Town Planning Ordinance. 

The TPR mechanism will be implemented as a pilot in the two old districts where redevelopment momentum has been slow while the number of old-age buildings has been rising.

“The mechanism allows the transfer of permissible gross floor area (GFA) from sending sites (SS) to receiving sites (RS) within the same Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) up to 30% of the maximum GFA permitted for the RS under the OZP through a planning application for minor relaxation of the plot ratio or GFA restriction, with allowance for interchangeability of domestic and non-domestic GFA upon transfer,” read the statement.

SS are sites of low redevelopment potential, sites with buildings worthy of preservation, or sites suitable for conversion to open space or Government, Institution & Community (GIC) purposes.

RS, meanwhile, are usually larger at more strategic and accessible locations suitable for higher-density development.

Under the new mechanism, it is expected to improve restructuring and replanning in the two old districts “by allowing GFA to be transferred from sites with low redevelopment potential to more sizable RS at the more strategic and accessible locations suitable for higher development intensity.”

“It will also bring planning gains in the form of additional open space and other GIC facilities and preservation of buildings with conservation value to the community,” read the statement.

The mechanism will be reviewed by 2025 with a view to enhancing the scheme’s operational details.