CY Leung tells Hong Kong teens his wish of offering flats for free impossible unless country parks are developed and land reclaimed
Speaking before students, the city’s top official said the government needed ‘enormous political courage’ to boost the supply of land and housing
Leung Chun-ying has warned that even if the government could offer residential flats for free, it would not be able to make good on such a promise in 15 years if it were not allowed to reclaim land and develop country parks.
Speaking at an inter-school debate competition in Sham Shui Po yesterday, the chief executive said the government must have “enormous political courage” to boost the city’s supply of land and housing.
“Assuming there was a site in country parks deemed by everyone to be of low ecological and sightseeing value, the government would build flats on the site and their selling price could be lower than that of ordinary Home Ownership Scheme flats,” Leung said in a hypothetical scenario. “But the price tag would only be enough to cover development and construction costs.”
READ MORE: Country park living: Build homes on ‘low eco value’ Hong Kong parks, suggests Chief Executive CY Leung
“Would you considering buying such flats when you turn 30?” he asked.
Responding to some students’ concerns that it would be too long for them to wait 15 years for the completion of such affordable flats, Leung said: “Even if I promised you today that the government would provide residents aged 30 with free residential flats 15 years later, the government would still need to have sufficient land to build the flats.”
The chief executive added that land supply had been the biggest obstacle to increasing the number of available residential flats. “If we are not allowed to reclaim land, level mountains and develop country parks, we would face an even bigger problem 15 years from now,” he said.