Leung Chun-ying’s target of extra flats not part of building budget

Public housing advisers are wondering whether an ambitious programme put forward by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying can be delivered upon, after it emerged yesterday the Housing Authority had not budgeted for the scheme.

The advisers, all members of the authority, learned from Housing Department officials at a regular meeting that the five-year budget had not taken into account Leung's decision to expand the public housing programme by at least 30 per cent.

Authority member Christine Fang Meng-sang said: "Our budget should reflect the reality.

"The authority will need to spend money to plan for the projects very soon. Will it fail to deliver [the extra flats]?" Fang asked.

Director of housing Duncan Pescod replied: "We were just given this task very recently … We don't think it has a significant 8effect on our budget."

Leung unveiled the plan in his policy speech on January 16, two weeks after the authority, which builds and manages public housing estates, released its 2013-17 budget. He said the city would put more than 100,000 public rental flats on the market over the five years starting from 2018, up from the current target of 75,000.

But the department had not worked out the sums nor located sites to fulfil this initiative beyond 2018, the authority members heard.