Land list 'shows supply may be running short'

Twenty-three of the 28 residential sites added to this year's land-sale list will not be ready for sale until next year, raising concerns that the government is running out of stock for immediate land supply.

Including sites rolled over from last year, the list released yesterday includes a total of 46 residential sites, which could deliver 13,600 flats.

Of the new additions, the upmarket neighbourhood of Shouson Hill is considered the prime site, and is the only new site on Hong Kong Island. But the market has to wait until it is ready for sale in March 2014, at the end of this financial year.

The same date applies to the biggest site of all, the 5.89 hectare one in So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun.

Most other new sites are not available much earlier, either, including the three sites at the former Kai Tak airport, which will be put on sale in January of next year at the earliest.

Lee Wing-tat, a former lawmaker who now runs concern group Land Watch, said he was worried about the late availability of so many sites.

"Why has the government brought in so many sites with such a remote date for sale? I wonder if the departments will be able to finish their work in time, as they are probably still doing technical studies and land-formation work," Lee said.