Ex-industrial sites chosen for public housing
Four former industrial sites have been identified for public housing use, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said yesterday.
Reviewing his work on housing land supply, Tsang, tipped to be staying in his post in the next administration, wrote on his blog that he would continue to lead a steering committee on housing land supply and explore new ways to expand the government's land bank.
'Land is the basis for life and all economic activities. A shortage in land supply is also a cause for social and economic conflicts ... I believe the work on land supply has to be perpetuated and improved to address people's hopes for a better home,' he wrote.
He said an ongoing review covering 60 hectares of former industrial land has so far identified five sites for rezoning into housing use - in Tsuen Wan, Fo Tan, Tai Kok Tsui and Yuen Long.
While one of the parcels of land will be set aside for sale to private developers, four will be handed to the Housing Authority for construction of public rental homes and flats under the new Home Ownership Scheme.
The scheme, relaunched last year amid mounting calls for more subsidised housing, will deliver 5,000 flats a year from 2016 for families who earn between HK$20,000 and HK$30,000 a month.
Another review covering sites currently zoned for government, community facilities and institutions' use has been completed, locating 36 sites suitable for housing development, Tsang added.
The reviews of urban sites are one of the six strategies to increase land supply announced by the government last year.
The other five strategies are urban redevelopment, land resumption in the New Territories, reclamation outside Victoria Harbour, rock cavern development and reusing former quarry sites.
Tsang said the short-term measures - the rezoning exercise and redevelopment - would release 150 hectares of land, and together with the long-term measures, they cover a total of 2,400 hectares of potential housing land.
