K Wah fears freeze on land sales will benefit big players

K Wah International Holdings has criticised the Government's freeze on land sales, saying it will provoke a manipulation of housing supply dominated by a few big developers.

An official said the suspension of land sales until next April did not mean a halt in land supply.

The Government still processed applications for land exchange and lease modifications which on average produced enough land to build 15 million square feet of property a year.

Almost 80 per cent of such land was owned by a few jumbo-sized developers, she said.

Housing supply would still be dominated by the giant developers, who were expected to have stronger influence over the property market in the next three to five years, she said.

The official would not say whether the suspension on land sales was unfair to the company or other small to medium-sized developers wishing to acquire land at bargain prices.

K Wah certainly would welcome a depressed market to pursue its land acquisition plan, she said.