The government has delayed three new town developments, targeted to house a total of 340,000 people by 2011, in an attempt to ease excess housing supply.
A Planning Department spokesman said a feasibility study of the new town developments, in northeast and northwest New Territories, had not yet been concluded, due to technical assessments. The government had no concrete schedule for the developments, he said.
Sources said the planning study was originally due to be completed in 2001. However, it had been held up for reassessment of housing demand.
Bernard Chan Kwok-fai, chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors' town planning and development committee, said the proposed new town developments should be withheld since housing demand had contracted substantially in recent years.
Technical difficulties, including land resumption and environmental impact arising from the proposed developments, had contributed to delays in the developments, he said.
New town developments could partly substitute for reduced land supply from reclamation, Mr Chan said, but the government should assess the demand in different locations.