Surveyors call for cheap land to be provided for homes for the elderly

Hong Kong property surveyors have called on the government to provide cheap land for the construction of affordable rental homes for the city's growing elderly population.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Hong Kong, representing 6,000 industry practitioners in the city, will issue the call as part of its submission to chief executive Leung Chun-ying's office next week in response to the 2014 consultation on the policy address.

The consultation closes on January 2 and Leung will deliver his policy address on January 15.

Albert So, chairman of the Hong Kong valuation, planning and development professional group committee at RICS, said the institution believed land should be set aside in the northeastern New Territories for building rental homes for the elderly, and the government could speed up the development of such homes by granting land to private developers at discounted prices.

The purpose-built housing estates could then be operated by non-governmental or religious organisations.

"We understand it is difficult to allocate land in urban areas. Therefore, land in the northeastern New Territories and even on Lantau Island can be considered."