Hong Kong leader sets out plans for public-private sector ‘land sharing’ scheme, despite fears over possible collusion
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announces proposal that would allow private developers to receive faster approval for projects if they hand part of their farmland over to the government
Hong Kong’s private developers will be invited to hand part of their farmland to the government in exchange for higher density and quicker development approval in a “land sharing” scheme proposed by the city’s leader in her policy address on Wednesday.
The announcement came despite recent public fears that such a plan could lead to collusion between the government and developers.
It came as part of a basket of measures announced in the policy address to make better use of the existing land resources to ease the housing crisis in the world’s most expensive property market.
Under the scheme, the owners of private farmland can apply to the government to increase the development density for their sites, but at least 60 or 70 per cent of the increased floor area would have to be used for affordable public-sector housing.
“If we want to unleash the potential earlier and make better use of privately owned land … we believe we can do so through [the scheme] that is based on fairness and high transparency, so as to meet the needs of both public and private housing in the short to medium term,” Lam said in her address.