https://www.scmp.com/rss/294021/feed Roger Nissim is advisor of Hong Kong Countryside Foundation en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The first three planning principles set out in the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy document, first introduced in the 2021 Policy Address, give priority to: urban-rural integration; proactive conservation; and high-quality outdoor eco-recreation or tourism outlets, with the vision to create, for the first time in Hong Kong, a unique metropolitan landscape aiming for the coexistence of development and conservation. We should all welcome and support this holistic approach to strategic... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3171243/will-hong-kongs-northern-metropolis-development-strategy-lead-brave-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3171243/will-hong-kongs-northern-metropolis-development-strategy-lead-brave-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Mar 2022 04:00:23 +0000 The government of Hong Kong, regrettably, has been its own worst enemy with regards to land production. Reclamations dropped dramatically from 4,000 hectares (9,884 acres) generated between 1976 and 1996, to some 1,000 ha created since then. At the same time, land resumptions fell considerably, to only 20 ha in the five years through 2018. The cumulative effect of this shortage was highlighted by Michael Wong, the Secretary for Development, to the Legislative Council in December 2018. During the... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3136309/leave-country-parks-and-golf-courses-alone-hong-kong-has-ample-brownfields?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3136309/leave-country-parks-and-golf-courses-alone-hong-kong-has-ample-brownfields?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Jun 2021 04:00:07 +0000 In many ways the most important element to get right in any forward planning exercise is the population figures. As the Hong Kong 2030 Plus consultation document states, figures from the Census and Statistics Department predict that Hong Kong’s population will peak at 8.22 million in 2043 and decline from there as the full impacts of an ageing population and smaller family sizes take hold, just as they have in Japan. Yet at the conclusion of the document, the government, without any... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/2045734/hong-kong-2030-plus-it-really-planning-or-just-guesswork?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/2045734/hong-kong-2030-plus-it-really-planning-or-just-guesswork?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Nov 2016 05:39:39 +0000 Are we short of suitable development land in Hong Kong: True or false? Let’s start by looking at the relationship between our population figures past and present, and how that has been translated into demand, and then supply of housing. The figures quoted here are from official government sources, principally the Census & Statistics Department and Rating and Valuation Department. By mid-year 2015 Hong Kong’s population was slightly over 7.3 million. By end of September 2015 there were 2.726... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1931286/hong-kongs-land-supply-has-little-do-sky-high-housing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1931286/hong-kongs-land-supply-has-little-do-sky-high-housing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Mar 2016 06:01:10 +0000 The latest statistics from the Hong Kong Development Bureau shows that the supply of flats resulting from lease modifications and land exchanges has fallen from a high of 4,070 units in 2011-12 to 700 in 2012-13 and 90 in 2013-14, with a slight increase to 100 in 2014-15. These figures are shocking and indicate there is something seriously wrong with the negotiation process between the Lands Department and the development industry, resulting in an outcome that runs completely contrary to the... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1844266/hong-kong-private-flat-supply-dries-lands-department?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1844266/hong-kong-private-flat-supply-dries-lands-department?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jul 2015 12:00:15 +0000 Ian Brownlee in his Insight article ("Affordability myth", South China Morning Post, March 18) suggested that increasing the housing supply in Hong Kong will not necessarily lead to more people owning their homes as policies and financing controls in place now effectively keep prices high. My colleague Dr L.H. Li and his team have just completed extensive research funded by the government's Central Policy Unit under their public policy research funding scheme that has, broadly speaking, come to... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1766390/boosting-hong-kong-housing-supply-wont-help-affordability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1766390/boosting-hong-kong-housing-supply-wont-help-affordability?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2015 22:00:15 +0000 The restarting of a regular land sale programme in 2013 after a 10-year hiatus is one of the real positive actions of the Leung Chun-ying administration as it struggles to plug the huge gap in housing supply. There is no quick fix for this situation. There is no such thing as "instant" flats and the public needs to understand it will probably take another four to five years before an equilibrium can be found between supply and demand. I am, however, deeply concerned that, in their... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672933/dont-sacrifice-hong-kongs-country-parks-housing-quick-fix?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672933/dont-sacrifice-hong-kongs-country-parks-housing-quick-fix?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2015 16:15:07 +0000 Is now the right time to replace the Buyers Stamp Duty? Following the inertia of the previous two administrations as regards land supply, the current administration has gone into overdrive in its attempt to catch up and remedy the situation. But I am now concerned that this may be being overdone and that we may soon face a similar situation that arose in 1997/8. The current Buyers Stamp Duty (BSD) is only really effective in a rising market and a more equitable form of tax such as a Capital... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1237952/market-changes-call-stamp-duty-alternative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1237952/market-changes-call-stamp-duty-alternative?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 May 2013 18:00:02 +0000 The one glaring omission from the policy address with regard to an increase in land supply and subsequent increase in flat supply was an unequivocal statement to immediately restart government land auctions. It is well understood by all in the industry and also the public that there is no quick fix to the problem of increasing flat production in the short term as the new administration has, to a large degree, inherited the problem. The policy address by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying outlined... https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1138704/urgent-need-restart-hong-kong-land-auctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/property/hong-kong-china/article/1138704/urgent-need-restart-hong-kong-land-auctions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000