Private sector plan to solve land crisis
FINANCIAL Secretary Sir Hamish Macleod says the redevelopment of old land would provide more effective and imminent solutions to cool spiralling property prices than focusing too much on the supply of new land.
He said in London yesterday that the Government was considering providing financial incentives to help speed up the process of releasing land from the private sector.
The redevelopment could include converting industrial land to office use, or converting low density areas to high density.
''We are speaking to China about new land, but we can also play a role in old land redevelopment proposals, such as in the density of development, and speeding up the process in all the things where the Government can take a role,'' Sir Hamish said.
His comments should help relieve some of the uncertainty that has brought the Hong Kong residential flats sales market close to a standstill in recent weeks.
''In this particular case we are looking at ways to speed up infrastructure to free up redevelopment proposals, and this includes talking to the private sector,'' he said.
Sir Hamish said the Government was also willing to include the private sector in its consultations, and even ask it to help speed up the release of more land.
