The Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, announced today (February 27) the Government's 2014-15 Land Sale Programme.
The 2014-15 Land Sale Programme comprises 34 residential sites capable of providing about 15,500 flats and seven commercial/business sites and one hotel site which could provide about 230,000 square metres of commercial floor area and about 1,100 rooms respectively.
"In the 2014-15 Land Sale Programme, 24 of the 34 residential sites are new sites, while 10 sites are rolled over from the 2013-14 Land Sale Programme. The inclusion of such a significant number of new residential sites with a high flat production capacity in the next annual Land Sale Programme well demonstrates the Government's determination to increase housing land supply," Mr Chan said.
"To ensure the quantity of flat supply, we will continue to impose minimum flat number requirements on suitable sites having regard to site characteristics and market conditions," he added.
Regarding the supply of commercial/business sites, Mr Chan pointed out that government land sale is not the sole source of supply. Relevant government departments are taking action to increase supply on different fronts. Examples include reviewing industrial land and revitalising industrial buildings, converting suitable government office buildings and "Government, Institution or Community" sites in core business districts for commercial use, providing commercial space at the new Central Harbourfront upon completion of relevant works projects, continuing with the "Energizing Kowloon East" initiative, reviewing the planning intensity for the Kai Tak Development Area to increase office and housing supply, completing the land use review of the government site at Caroline Hill Road, and commencing a study to identify districts with potential for developing urban underground space.
Mr Chan also gave an overview of the private housing land supply situation in 2013-14. In the current financial year, the Government sold/will sell a total of 36 residential sites which have a capacity to produce about 13,700 flats, exceeding the flat production capacity of sites sold in 2012-13 by about 5,500 flats or 67 per cent, and higher than 2011-12 (7,900 flats) and 2010-11 (5,900 flats). This has set a record high flat production capacity of sites sold in annual land sale programmes since 2000-01. Through the sale of government sites, railway property development projects, the Urban Renewal Authority's projects, projects subject to lease modification/land exchange and private redevelopment projects not subject to lease modification/land exchange, it is estimated that private housing land supply from these sources has a total capacity to produce about 18,000 flats.
"Pursuant to the adoption of the new housing supply target as announced in the 2014 Policy Address, our aim is to maintain land supply from various sources for an annual average of about 19,000 private residential units," Mr Chan said.
Looking ahead, in the next financial year, railway property development projects will continue to be one of the important sources of private housing land supply. The West Rail property development project at Yuen Long Station and the MTR Corporation Limited's own projects in Tseung Kwan O Area 86 and Tai Wai are estimated to provide a total of some 6,500 flats. Combining the various housing land supply sources mentioned above, the total housing land supply in the next financial year is estimated to have the capacity to produce about 30,000 private flats.
Mr Chan explained that this forecast of estimated supply refers to the potential housing land that could be supplied to the market for private residential developments within the financial year of 2014-15. The actual supply of housing land will depend on the readiness for sale of the government sites upon completion of the relevant procedures/proceedings within the year, the implementation progress of the railway property development projects and the Urban Renewal Authority's projects, developers' initiative to conclude lease modifications, etc.
For the first quarter of 2014-15, i.e. April to June 2014, the Government will tender six residential sites - one in Wan Chai, two in Ma On Shan, two in Tuen Mun and one in Tsuen Wan - which are capable of providing about 1,500 flats in total. A minimum flat number requirement will be imposed on four of them to ensure the quantity of flat supply. In addition, one commercial site in Tsim Sha Tsui capable of producing about 21,000 square metres of commercial floor area will be tendered in the same quarter to meet market demand. The Urban Renewal Authority plans to invite developers to submit tenders for joint venture development of Development Areas 2 and 3 of the Kwun Tong Town Centre Project in the same quarter, which could provide about 1,700 flats. The seven residential sites above are capable of producing about 3,200 flats.
The Development Bureau and relevant departments will continue their efforts to increase land supply in the short, medium and long term through a multi-pronged approach, and speed up the supply of sites to the market in response to market needs.
"The Government will follow the established practice to announce in advance on a quarterly basis the land sale programme to provide transparency and certainty to the market. We are firmly determined to continue to increase land supply to ensure a healthy property market," Mr Chan said.
The 2014-15 Land Sale Programme can be found on the Lands Department's website (http://www.landsd.gov.hk/).
Ends/Thursday, February 27, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:54
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