My Take | Blinkered view in search for land
There’s plenty of supply if you look in the right places but with powerful forces at work, it’s easier to stiff the little guy
The one redeeming quality of the Leung Chun-ying government has been its unrelenting efforts to increase land and housing supply. But when there are obvious supply solutions that officials never mention, you know something is amiss.
I am, of course, referring to the enormous land banks developers have amassed, and massive New Territories lots that have been reserved for small village houses.
This is why the latest blog posted by development minister Paul Chan Mo-po is so intriguing. Chan was defending the government’s 2030-Plus planning blueprint, which targeted 4,800 hectares of land to build flats and stimulate economic development. With 3,600 hectares already identified, the city still needs to find 1,200 hectares.
So, what to do? The plan recommends building two large new towns in the northern New Territories and on reclaimed land east of Lantau. These add up to 1,700 hectares – that’s an extra 500 hectares to spare.