LettersHow MTR Corporation can help increase property market transparency
- Readers urge MTR Corporation to make unsuccessful property development bids public, and suggest the government find revenue alternatives to land sales to solve the housing crisis
This practice was lauded as an enhancement to the public tender system. It not only helps developers gauge the right land prices, but over the long term it can provide a check and balance on the system to avoid overpriced bids that upset pricing trends and ultimately affect every homebuyer.
MTR Corporation, however, has yet to adopt such a practice four years on, and this is unacceptable. In 2020 and 2021, almost 30 per cent of the residential units sold in the primary market in Hong Kong were developed or co-developed by MTR Corp.
A majority government-owned mass transport operator and property developer, MTR Corp is a highly influential player in the property sector and is very much an institution that serves the public interest. There is no reason for the company to remain an exception to the government’s best practices in making the public aware of essential market information.
Transparency alleviates waste and avoids resource misallocation. When developers pay exorbitant land premiums, the cost will eventually be borne by home buyers. The central government said in 2016 that housing should not be speculative and should be affordable to all.