The Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, announced today (February 26) the Government's 2015-16 Land Sale Programme.
The 2015-16 Land Sale Programme comprises 29 residential sites capable of providing about 16,000 flats, four commercial/business sites and one hotel site which can provide about 180,000 square metres of commercial floor area and about 500 rooms.
"In the 2015-16 Land Sale Programme, 16 of the 29 residential sites are new sites, while 13 sites are rolled over from the 2014-15 Land Sale Programme. The high flat production capacity of the 2015-16 Land Sale Programme underscores the Government's determination to expedite and increase housing land supply," Mr Chan said.
Mr Chan also gave an overview of the private land supply situation in 2014-15. By the end of 2014-15, the Government will have put up for sale a total of 20 residential sites, with a capacity to produce about 6,300 flats. The aggregate private housing land supply from the sale of government sites, railway property development projects, projects of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), and private redevelopment or development projects is estimated to have the capacity to produce over 20,300 flats, exceeding the annual target of 18,800 flats set for 2014-15. This is a record high since the Government introduced the private housing land supply target in 2010.
"Pursuant to the Long Term Housing Strategy announced by the Government in December last year, the total housing supply target for the coming 10 years is 480,000 units, of which 40 per cent is private housing. Correspondingly, the target of average annual private housing land supply from various sources has been adjusted to about 19,000 flats," Mr Chan added.
In the coming financial year, railway property development projects will continue to be an important source of private housing land supply. The West Rail property development project at Yuen Long Station and three projects at LOHAS Park owned by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) are estimated to have the capacity to provide a total of some 7,200 flats. Taking into consideration also the land supply from projects of the URA and private development/redevelopment, the total private housing land supply in the next financial year is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 28,000 flats.
Mr Chan further 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 2015-16. The actual supply of housing land will depend on the readiness for sale of the government sites upon timely completion of the relevant procedures/proceedings, the implementation progress of the railway property development projects and projects of the URA, developers' initiatives to conclude lease modifications and pursue redevelopments, and so forth. The overall private housing land supply target of the Government for the year 2015-16 remains at 19,000 units.
For the first quarter of 2015-16, i.e. April to June 2015, the Government will tender five residential sites - three in Tuen Mun, one in Yuen Long and one in Cheung Chau - which are capable of providing about 3,100 flats in total.
In the same quarter, the MTRCL plans to tender other project(s) at LOHAS Park, which are capable of providing about 2,450 flats or more in total. The URA plans to execute the land grant for the Ma Tau Wai Road/Chun Tin Street project site, which it proposes to develop by itself, and invite tenders for the joint venture development of Pak Tai Street/San Shan Road project. These two urban renewal projects can provide about 650 flats in total.
The private housing land supply from the above three sources in the first quarter of 2015-16 is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 6,200 flats in total.
Mr Chan said that the Development Bureau and relevant government departments will continue their efforts to increase land supply in the short, medium and long term through a multi-pronged approach, and will speed up the supply of sites to the market.
"The Government will follow the established practice of announcing in advance the quarterly land sale programme to provide transparency and certainty to the market. We are firmly committed to continuing our efforts to increase land supply to meet the housing needs of the community," he said.
The 2015-16 Land Sale Programme can be found on the Lands Department's website (www.landsd.gov.hk).
Ends/Thursday, February 26, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:00
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2015-16 Land Sale Programme