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Rent Control and Housing Reconstruction: The Postwar Experience of Prewar Premises in Hong Kong

* My deep appreciation is extended to three presidents of the Hong Kong Tenancy Tribunal. After first teaching me the basic nature of rent control in 1970, Mr. C. Q. Lim came to Seattle following his retirement in 1972 and for two intensive weeks imparted much of his encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. The following year, Mr. Bill Silke, with great objectivity, opened to me the entire body of case files at the tribunal and provided desk space to accommodate my assistants during three months. In the course of my four visits to Hong Kong, Mr. C. Y. Shum spent many hours sharing with me his incisive analysis of the control laws. Mr. A. I. Diamond, archivist at the Public Records Office of Hong Kong, assisted both with his fine collection and by obtaining for me some of the most important documents from outside his office. (I cherish the fact that I was the very first to utilize the resources maintained by Mr. Diamond, and I note with pleasure how his collection has expanded from cramped quarters to its present impressive housing.) The Tenancy Inquiry Bureau kindly made available the records of the Demolished Building Ordinance and of the surrender section of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, all of which were clarified for me by the subtle insights of Miss Lily Cheng. Among other government offices which cooperated in my search for information were the Colonial Secretariat (particularly the Hon. Mr. I. M. Lightbody and Mr. J. F. Barrow), the Rating and Valuation Department (particularly Mr. W. P. McFadzean), the Supreme Court (particularly Mr. John Oliver), and the Printing Department (particularly Mrs. Maggie Tong). I am grateful to the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong for facilities provided for me and my assistants during my sabbatical there in 1975. In this prolonged investigation, I alone have been at fault in taking too long to deliver too little. Indeed, it was largely the persistent complaint of my research assistant Mrs. Lina Tong that her work was not being put to use which prompted me to prepare this piece, although this yet incorporates only a small fraction of her superb summary materials. Basic support for most of this investigation has been a grant from the National Science Foundation which is gratefully acknowledged here.