Government target of 20,000 homes in doubt due to limited land sales
Government wants 20,000 new flats per year, but land on offer in next quarter is limited
Parcels of land offered for sale between April and December will only accommodate about 9,000 new homes, indicating that the government may fall short of its annual target despite fresh measures unveiled on Thursday to boost housing supply and cool the overheated property market.
The government announces land sales each quarter and yesterday, Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po said seven residential sites, including one above Tsuen Wan West station, would be put on sale between October and December.
Chan said the sites might be sold with a condition that the completed flats would be offered only to Hong Kong people, provided that the government can solve any legal issues regarding such a restriction.
With a total estimated value of about HK$11.92 billion, the seven sites - one in Jordan and the rest in the New Territories at Tseung Kwan O and Sha Tin - will yield 2,650 flats. That is 47 per cent fewer than the 5,000 that can be built on land sites being offered in this quarter.
The government's annual target, set by the previous administration in 2010, is 20,000 flats. With just 9,000 new homes announced in the first nine months of the current fiscal year ending March, surveyors doubt the target can be met.
But Chan said: "We're still optimistic about achieving the target ... If needed, we will launch more [sites for sale]."