‘How can she now say she represents us?’: Hong Kong’s poorly housed reject city leader Carrie Lam using their plight to back controversial land plans
Representative tells forum chief executive’s comments dismayed her group, decrying ‘land policy that severely favours the rich’
People living in Hong Kong’s cubicle flats lashed out at the city’s leader on Sunday, a day after she tried to use people’s poor living conditions to justify controversial land supply measures such as large-scale reclamation.
“We are very angry [about Lam’s comment],” Yau Tze-wei, a member of the Kwai Chung Subdivided Flat Residents Alliance, said. “To us [her comment] is worse than profanity. We have previously asked her to meet us in person but she rejected it. How can she now say she represents us?
“Hong Kong’s housing crisis is not caused by a shortage of land, but by a land policy that severely favours the rich.”
The forum came ahead of a five-month consultation, set to begin in the middle of next month and spearheaded by the government-appointed Task Force on Land Supply. The consultation will include a list of land supply measures, and members of the public will decide which ones to prioritise.
Hong Kong’s housing crisis is not caused by a shortage of land, but by a land policy that severely favours the rich
At the forum, former lawmaker for the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape sector Edward Yiu Chung-yim said a shortage of land did not cause the city’s housing problems, but uncontrolled housing speculation, notably by cash-rich mainland Chinese people.
Citing government figures, Yiu said housing supply increased by 11 per cent in the past decade, compared with a population increase of 7 per cent in the same period. He said that meant there was no imbalance in supply and demand. But during the same period, he said, private property prices have doubled, but salaries only increased by 50 per cent, falling far behind.
He cited multiple studies which showed low interest rates and foreign investment had contributed to property market inflation globally.
“If we talk about developing country parks and reclamation now without doing anything to limit overseas investment and speculation, we are using our precious limited land resources to satisfy the unlimited money from around the world,” Yiu said.
Chan Kim-ching, founder of land concern group Liber Research Community, said the government should look at existing damaged land for development before touching places with high ecological value, such as country parks and the sea.
