Land premiums expected to surpass $12b estimate
More will be earned by the government from land premiums than the $12 billion it predicted earlier this year, the secretary for housing, planning and lands said yesterday.
'With five more months to go before the end of this fiscal year, the land revenue will be beyond what we had expected,' said Michael Suen Ming-yeung.
Mr Suen spoke a day before this year's third land auction, in which developers will compete for a 191,126 sq ft site in Ho Man Tin and a 136,000 sq ft site in San Po Kong.
Bidding for the former married police officers' quarters in Tin Kwong Road, Ho Man Tin, will open at $5.02 billion.
The minimum bid for the former San Po Kong magistrates' court is $3 billion. Three sites sold in the two previous auctions reaped $4.47 billion for the Treasury.
Mr Suen said on Commercial Radio's Tipping Point programme that property developers of various groups should be able to find suitable sites from the application list - the list of properties from which developers can generate a sale with an initial bid that meets the government's minimum.
Mr Suen said no developer had asked him to put more sites on the list, although he had learned from the media that some had been calling for the government to add sites and lower the minimum bid.
The government would hold discussions with developers before completing next year's application list, he said.
