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The LTV is an integral part of the long-term land supply strategy. To increase housing completions for the short term (i.e. next 3–5 Executive
It will not only act as an important “catalyst” in speeding up years), the only way is to expedite development on spade-ready Summary
potential land clearance and resettlement issues in the negotiation land. Currently, the average development cycles from land
between the Government and different stakeholders, but also acquisition to construction completion for public and private
provide a new strategic transport network that unleashes the housing are more than five years, even assuming spade-ready sites
development potential of the New Territories. are immediately available. We advocated the need to cut the
administrative red tape to shorten the development cycles for both
Strategic planning, however, is a continuous effort—a halt in land public and private housing.
development will only risk an inability to meet future needs. With the
expected commencement of construction work for the LTV and In the medium term (i.e. next 5–10 years), the Government needs to
the New Territories North (NTN) in several years, we identify a expedite the creation of spade-ready sites in its pipeline. A spade-
paramount need to start looking for the next batch of NDAs to ready site, be it a small rezoning site or a large NDA, takes at least
succeed these two projects. In anticipation of the dynamics ahead five to ten years to be created. Previously, we have also identified
in the long-term future, we bring forth the development blueprint for two sites of “unzoned hills” at Shap Sze Heung that are mostly
a liveable New Territories, to lay out a visionary and pragmatic government-owned and free from obvious legal restrictions to
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roadmap towards the 2030s and beyond. development. In this report, we also explore various measures to
speed up the development procedures of spade-ready land,
But what about the immediate housing especially for the two ongoing NDAs of HSK and KTN/FLN.
shortage?
Re-imaging the possibilities of the
One of the direct consequences of the current land shortage is the New Territories
housing crisis. Many people live in small and unaffordable private
flats, while many wait in an ever-lengthening queue for public For Hong Kong to continue to thrive in the future, comprehensive
housing units. We have scrutinised the short-to-medium land and development that meets our various land demand, be it housing,
housing supply in our previous research reports and put forward economic activities, community facilities, recreation space,
recommendations on this front. While this report gives emphasis to transport, and infrastructures, is of the essence. As comprehensive
long-term land supply, the suggestions herein can also facilitate the planning and development must be accompanied by the availability
NDA development that is currently underway. of large and flat landmass; the New Territories, extending over
almost 90% of Hong Kong’s landmass, will be a key enabler for
Hong Kong’s future growth.

1 For further information about our policy recommendations on cutting red tapes in development cycles and utilising “unzoned hills”, please refer to Cutting Red Tape to Catch Up with
Shortfalls in Land and Housing Supply (OHKF, 2020a), and Lacunae in Land Planning: Undersized, Undersupplied and Underestimated (OHKF, 2018).
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