Hong Kong Government Sets Stage for Tenfold Increase in Homes to be Built
Hong Kong’s government will sell more land in its fiscal second quarter, increasing the number of homes that can be built on the land tenfold, after the new administration of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged to “spare no effort” to ease housing shortages in the world’s least affordable urban centre. The government will sell three plots of residential land in Sha Tin, Kwai Chung and Tuen Mun, totalling 3.9 hectares (9.63 acres), according to an announcement by Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn. The parcels, valued by Knight Frank at up to HK$9.1 billion (US$1.2 billion), can accommodate 2,600 flats, a tenfold increase from the 270 flats the government offered in the first quarter of the financial year that began on April 1. “Looking ahead, the government will continue to increase that supply in a multipronged approach, sparing no efforts [to implement] a series of sites production projects, including new development areas, reclamation, rezoning of individual sites,” Linn said in her maiden address as the top official responsible for development. The plan came hot on the heels of two task forces established by Lee’s new administration to tackle Hong Kong’s intractable housing problem and land supply. The two groups held their first meeting on Tuesday, along with two other task forces on underprivileged students and district matters. Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed Lee’s team to “strive to deliver” what “the people of Hong Kong desired – a better life, a bigger flat, more business start-up opportunities, better education and better elderly care”, during his keynote speech to inaugurate the new chief executive’s term on July 1. “The government’s target is to supply about 13,300 private residential units per year, but now there will only be about 5,300 in the first half of the year,” he said. “I think the government really needs to remove the red tape and speed up the process of land development. Developers have complained that it can take six to seven years to go through various processes. This is ridiculous.” The increased housing supply is needed to meet pent-up demand for housing. The actual land supply for the last financial year exceeded the annual target by 51 per cent to 18,930 flats, Linn said.
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