In this seminar, Mr Malcolm Merry will first introduce the basic background of New Territories in 1898. After that, he will further discuss the method of landholding, succession to property and sale of property under the Chinese Land Customs with a special focus on the Customary Institutions T’so and t’ong. The Small House Policy was introduced in 1972 in Hong Kong. The Policy content including the layout of villages, design and size of houses will be explored. Later the Hong Kong Government introduced the Article 40 in Chapter 3 of the Basic Law for protecting the lawful traditional rights and interests of the indigenous inhabitants.