Hong Kong officials eye residential development in Yuen Long for 85,000 people from 2026
The plan is to build 27,700 new flats across 183 hectares to ease housing crunch
Yuen Long is the next focal point of residential development in Hong Kong, with the government planning for the first of some 85,000 people to move to the area in 10 years’ time.
Unveiling the latest plan for 183 hectares of land located south of Yuen Long New Town, the
Development Bureau yesterday said the project was part of a move to increase the housing supply and develop brownfield sites in the New Territories.
About 60 per cent of the 27,700 new flats to be built in the area would be public housing, concentrated in three residential zones. Under the plan, the active agricultural land to the south of Tong Yan San Tsuen would be preserved, forming a green zone of about 15 hectares.
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Over 100 hectares of land in the area is considered by the government to be brownfield sites, which are currently being used as open storage yards and warehouses.
To accommodate them, about 12 hectares of land would be reserved for storage and workshop purposes in an economic belt close to Yuen Long Highway.
“Yuen Long South will be a southern extension of Yuen Long New Town,” said a Development Bureau spokeswoman. “It’s one of the main sources of our future housing supply.”
To develop the area – of which over 80 per cent is now privately owned – the spokeswoman said the government planned to take back the land and compensate and arrange rehousing for affected residents. She added that the government would allow property owners to apply for land exchange in suitable circumstances.