Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority to build 18,000 new homes in HK$100 billion drive to help first-time buyers, regenerate parts of the city
- URA announces biggest, costliest five-year business plan in its history aimed at boosting private housing supply, redeveloping old communities
- Public to be consulted on redeveloping Kowloon’s Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, home to some of the city’s most densely populated neighbourhoods
The Urban Renewal Authority will spend HK$100 billion (US$13 billion) over the next five years building 18,000 homes for Hong Kong’s private sector under a massive drive to help first-time buyers and regenerate parts of the city.
Announcing its biggest and costliest five-year business plan since it was established in 2001, the authority also revealed it would launch a public consultation on redeveloping Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, which are home to some of the city’s oldest and most densely populated neighbourhoods.
The 18,000 new flats will be sited in urban locations across the city and the programme includes a significant starter-home project in central Kowloon.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has tasked the self-financing authority – which renews old communities in the city through redevelopment, renovation and conservation – with leading the push to build more homes for first-time buyers.
The Housing Authority, meanwhile, is responsible for delivering public housing and subsidised homes for lower-income groups.
“With a sound financial position, we have drawn up our largest five-year business plan by far, covering multiple redevelopment projects,” URA chairman Chow Chung-kong told the media on Tuesday.
“Including those we have launched already, we will need more than HK$100 billion to pay for property acquisition and construction.”