Major Hong Kong developer to release land for public housing, day after government says it will seize lots left idle for decades
- Sun Hung Kai Properties to give up plots in Yuen Long located next to middle-class residential project
- Company says difficulty in acquiring ancestral land from villagers made it hard to develop area
A major Hong Kong developer said on Friday it would be willing to give up some land to the government to build public housing, a day after authorities announced they would seize the lots because they had lain idle for decades.
The plots in Yuen Long, which belong to Sun Hung Kai Properties and sit right next to its middle-class residential project Yoho Midtown, are located in one of the three sites to be taken away as a measure to stop private owners from hoarding land and boost the city’s housing supply.
Combined, the three sites cover an area of 12,300 square metres and could produce 1,600 flats, or just five per cent of what the government needs to provide to meet its supply target for the coming decade.
But critics said it was disappointing the authorities took more than a year to take action – and were only taking so little. The developer, meanwhile, said the difficulty of acquiring villagers’ ancestral land in the area had made it unable to develop the property.
The option to take private land under the Lands Resumption Ordinance for public housing was announced by city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in 2019 under pressure to get tough on developers hoarding sites.