Boost in land supply to build 40,000 flats

The financial secretary yesterday announced a series of measures to provide enough land in the coming year to build 30,000 to 40,000 flats.

But market watchers said more land was unlikely to cool soaring property prices and the target - almost double the annual average of 20,000 flats - was an 'illusion'.

Marcos Chan, head of research for the Greater Pearl River Delta at Jones Lang LaSalle, said the supply strategy to curb rising prices was 'a slow remedy that cannot meet the emergency' because the new supply would not be ready until 2015 or even later. 'Home prices will continue to increase for the next two years as there will be no improvement in the new supply at about 12,000 units a year.'

The measures unveiled by the financial minister John Tsang Chun-wah yesterday include specifying four residential sites on the government's land application list for sale through auction or tender in the coming financial year.

Another five sites, which are not on the application list, will be designated for building about 3,000 small and medium-sized flats. Including these nine sites, a total of 52 residential sites will be available for sale next year. They could result in 16,000 flats, a 70 per cent increase over this year.

Together with projects from the MTR Corp and Urban Renewal Authority and sites from lease modification, Tsang estimated housing land available next year could provide 30,000 to 40,000 flats.