59,000 new private flats expected within four years

The government estimates that 59,000 new flats will become available in the private housing market in the coming three to four years.

That number includes completed units that are unsold and flats under construction as well as planned developments approved by the government on sites already sold or granted.

The planned developments, which have yet to start construction, comprise 21 projects that are expected to deliver a total of 12,000 flats, the Transport and Housing Bureau said in a written reply to lawmaker Fred Li Wah-ming. He had asked for details after the bureau promised to increase the supply of housing.

'The government will impose a building covenant date in the land leases to govern the completion date of the project but will not set requirements on the date for commencing construction,' the bureau said. 'The timing for these projects to commence construction works will depend on whether site formation is required and when their building plans are approved.'

The bureau did not list the locations and sizes of the 21 sites and the expected earliest dates for commencement of work as Li had requested. Earlier, it said developers were normally required to complete construction within four to six years.

Flats under construction and unsold in presale, another component of future housing supply, number 40,000.

There are 7,000 completed flats that remain unsold. When these units would be put up for sale was a commercial decision the developers would make and one that the government was not able to predict, the bureau said.