Page 14 - Land2.5_EN_Final_C

Overview

Although land supply has increased significantly in recent years, the
supply of private housing units in the past five years missed the target
set by the government’s “Long-Term Housing Strategy“ (LTHS), i.e.,
18,000 units per year.

Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF) forecasts that the average
annual completion of private residential units to be 20,200 in 2017 to
2020, which meets the target set by the LTHS and is 85% higher than
that of the preceding decade.

However, public housing is still chronically undersupplied, and the
average waiting time of public rental housing has increased rapidly.

OHKF estimates that Hong Kong will require more than 1.26 million
residential units over the next 30 years, translating into more than
9,000 hectares of land. Yet, the government’s existing land develop-
ment plans can only provide 5,300 hectares.

Hong Kong’s development is a story of reclamation. It is not only the
cornerstone of the development of new towns, but also an important
source of land for public and private housing. But in recent years,
reclamation have halted, and Hong Kong is seriously falling behind its
neighbours. As a result, the residential land available for sale from
reclamation will soon be depleted.

To ensure the continued and stable supply of land and establish a land
reserve in the long-term, OHKF suggests that the Government should
restart large-scale reclamation and proposes a number of reclamation
sites. Together, we can build our “New Rose Garden”.

In the short to medium term, OHKF recommends the government to
consider ways of releasing private land reserve to increase housing
supply through public-private partnerships.

14