Extra land ‘not enough’ to solve Hong Kong’s housing crisis without more subsidised homes
Major Lantau reclamation project kicks off to create space for almost 50,000 new flats, but experts say building more affordable housing is the key
Increasing land supply will not be enough to solve Hong Kong’s housing crisis if more subsidised flats are not built, experts said on Monday as construction work began on a major reclamation project to create space for nearly 50,000 homes.
The call for more affordable housing came as the city’s finance minister attended a ceremony to break ground on the HK$20.5 billion (US$2.62 billion) project to reclaim 130 hectares off the northern coast of Lantau Island.
The first residents are scheduled to move in by 2023 or 2024.
The development is Hong Kong’s first major reclamation project since 2003 and is part of a plan to extend Tung Chung new town to provide 49,000 flats for 144,000 people along with about 870,000 square metres of commercial floor space. Construction is expected to be completed by 2030.
“It is one of the largest land development projects in recent years,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said at the ceremony. “It will greatly help solve the current shortage of housing.”