https://www.scmp.com/rss/739/feed Joyce Ng covers Hong Kong’s politics and housing issues. She joined the Post in 2008 to focus on urban planning, housing and heritage news, and has won awards for reporting on developers’ tricks in flat sales. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The alliance behind Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Square vigil fostered love for mainland China and did not incite hatred of the country’s Communist Party, a former leader of the group has told a court hearing set up to examine the strength of evidence for subversion charges. Chow Hang-tung, who was vice-chairwoman of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said on Friday the organisation had backed political change north of the border using... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3191171/tiananmen-square-vigil-group-hong-kong-cared-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3191171/tiananmen-square-vigil-group-hong-kong-cared-about?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Sep 2022 11:49:53 +0000 When Alvin Ho placed a down payment for a HK$9 million (US$1.1 million) one-bedroom flat at the former Kai Tak airport site last year, he bought into the dream of living in a vibrant neighbourhood surrounded by greenery, fronting Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. One Victoria, a three-block condominium project was completed this month, but the 36-year-old found his new home in the middle of a massive construction site, with no public transport. “There is a lack of planning for such a huge site. It’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3190462/kai-tak-dreams-fizzle-hong-kongs-massive-second?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3190462/kai-tak-dreams-fizzle-hong-kongs-massive-second?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Aug 2022 00:00:17 +0000 Hong Kong environmental advisers have failed to reach a consensus on a government plan to build public housing on a luxury golf course even as development officials brushed aside their concerns and stressed the land was needed to help solve the property crunch. Some members of the Advisory Council on the Environment raised doubts over the methodology of the ecological survey commissioned by the government at Monday’s talks. They must reach a final decision before August 28. The six-hour meeting... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3188207/environmental-advisers-divided-over-public-housing-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3188207/environmental-advisers-divided-over-public-housing-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Aug 2022 15:42:06 +0000 Joyce Ng Joyce Ng Hong Kong will have no choice but to raise interest rates, although the pace or scale need not follow US hikes and it is unlikely to trigger the kind of property market crisis seen in 1998, according to the city’s financial secretary. While he called for calm in the face of higher mortgage payments for homeowners, Paul Chan Mo-po also offered hope to those aspiring to buy flats, promising not to rule out the option of taking over land on the fringes of a large country park for housing. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3186682/hong-kong-must-raise-interest-rates-wild-swing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3186682/hong-kong-must-raise-interest-rates-wild-swing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Jul 2022 00:00:23 +0000 Zoe But said it was the luckiest day in her life when she and her fiancé were chosen in the ballot to buy a subsidised home 25 years ago. “We were really lucky. Without the flat, we would have had no way of having a home of our own to start a family,” said But, now 59. “Although paying up the mortgage was hard – you couldn’t travel as much as you like or eat whatever you wanted – it was worth it.” She was among 89,476 applicants who bid for 10,502 flats under the Home Ownership Scheme in October... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3183285/can-hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-fix-citys-housing-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3183285/can-hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-fix-citys-housing-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jun 2022 00:53:50 +0000 Hong Kong’s Town Planning Board has rejected a government proposal to switch two prime commercial sites on the runway of the former Kai Tak airport to housing use, after developers raised objections. Keeping the commercial plots would be good for the city’s long-term economic development, some board members said, as it had been planned for the runway to become a tourism hub. “After discussions, the board agreed the two sites should serve to support the tourism node on the runway, where we... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3182175/hong-kong-town-planning-board-rejects-proposal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3182175/hong-kong-town-planning-board-rejects-proposal?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jun 2022 14:44:34 +0000 Up to 12,000 public housing flats could be built on land currently used as part of an exclusive golf site in northern Hong Kong which is set to be returned to authorities next year, the government has proposed. The proposal to redevelop 32 hectares of the 172-hectare Fanling site, leased to the Hong Kong Golf Club, was among several controversial recommendations made by government advisers in 2018 to increase land supply to solve the city’s housing crunch. In a paper submitted to North District... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3178587/hong-kong-may-use-luxury-fanling-golf-course-build-12000?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3178587/hong-kong-may-use-luxury-fanling-golf-course-build-12000?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 May 2022 14:24:27 +0000 A Covid-19 isolation centre in Hong Kong’s prime Kai Tak development area could be turned into transitional housing for low-income residents when the pandemic eases, the Post has learned. Concern groups for housing welcomed the idea, saying it could provide quick relief given the city’s severe shortage of public housing. But developers and tourism sector players said they believed the temporary housing should not remain too long, or it could affect tourism and plans to transform the former... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3176884/hong-kong-covid-19-isolation-centre-prime-kai-tak?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3176884/hong-kong-covid-19-isolation-centre-prime-kai-tak?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 12:30:16 +0000 Compensation rates for rural landlords to surrender their plots to the Hong Kong government will be raised in a simplified mechanism starting from this month, which officials say will help speed up development of the Northern Metropolis. The revised arrangement will increase by 10 per cent the government budget for land resumption in the next five years in the New Territories, which involves 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of private land and costs HK$6.3 billion (US$802.9 million). A spokeswoman for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3176385/hong-kong-landowners-get-better-compensation-rates-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3176385/hong-kong-landowners-get-better-compensation-rates-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 May 2022 10:44:46 +0000 It was not coincidental during a debut community visit last Sunday that Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu chose to greet residents from two low-income families on a waiting list for public housing. Like former chief executive Leung Chun-ying and incumbent leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Lee has identified housing as “the top priority among all priorities” in his bid for the city’s top job as the sole candidate approved by Beijing. Hong Kong’s housing crisis has been long in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3175736/hong-kong-chief-executive-election-2022-can-john-lee-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3175736/hong-kong-chief-executive-election-2022-can-john-lee-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Apr 2022 00:00:11 +0000 Hong Kong lawmakers elected last December under Beijing’s “patriots-only” reforms asked significantly fewer questions about the Chief Executive’s Office, security agencies and legal administration ahead of recent meetings on this year’s budget. This was after city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor urged Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to appeal to lawmakers to ask fewer questions and free officials to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic. The lawmakers responded by accepting a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3174565/brisk-business-patriots-only-legco-hong-kong-lawmakers-heed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3174565/brisk-business-patriots-only-legco-hong-kong-lawmakers-heed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Apr 2022 00:00:22 +0000 Hong Kong kicked off a three-day voluntary mass coronavirus testing exercise on Friday in an attempt to sever community transmission chains amid the city’s fifth wave of infections, but resistance and challenges had already surfaced. Some among the elderly lamented it as pointless since they were “dying anyway”, while a community group said it expected many to not know how to make a report online should they test positive for Covid-19. In the lead-up to the three-day exercise that started on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3173489/coronavirus-hurdles-hong-kong-voluntary-mass?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3173489/coronavirus-hurdles-hong-kong-voluntary-mass?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Apr 2022 01:00:27 +0000 Tiny government-subsidised flats as small as 186 sq ft have drawn the interest of aspiring homeowners in Hong Kong after applications launched on Friday, with some saying it was better to buy small than own nothing in the world’s most expensive property market. The shoebox homes, located at the site of the former airport at Kai Tak, are among the 8,926 flats of various sizes offered as part of this year’s Home Ownership Scheme, targeting lower to middle-income households. The Housing Authority... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168405/aspiring-hong-kong-homeowners-rush-sign-chance-buy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168405/aspiring-hong-kong-homeowners-rush-sign-chance-buy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:45:50 +0000 All private homes to be built in Hong Kong will have to be at least 280 sq ft, the government has announced, unless in rare cases when developers face site constraints or dated leases that may not be subject to the new rule. The minimum size requirement in the private sector will cover all government land sales, railway property projects, homes built by the Urban Renewal Authority and redevelopment projects by developers. Hong Kong to set aside HK$100 billion for ambitious Northern Metropolis... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168256/all-private-flats-built-hong-kong-must-be-least?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168256/all-private-flats-built-hong-kong-must-be-least?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Feb 2022 10:44:45 +0000 Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered his HK$170 billion (US$21.8 billion) budget for Hong Kong on Wednesday, emphasising the urgent need to address the worsening coronavirus pandemic, with billions in funding earmarked for relief and public health measures. Small businesses are in line for new rental protections, while major corporations and certain landlords can expect higher taxes in the coming financial year. Meanwhile, the government’s popular consumption vouchers are back and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168071/sweeteners-ease-covid-19-pain-vouchers-and-tax?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3168071/sweeteners-ease-covid-19-pain-vouchers-and-tax?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Feb 2022 07:53:15 +0000 A Hong Kong developer which battled for three decades for the right to build homes on an ecological wetland site has urged the government to issue a strong town planning directive to override discord between departments and solve the city’s housing problem. Wan Man-yee, a veteran surveyor and consultant for KHI Holdings Group, said that while they were partly responsible for setbacks in the early years of the process, the appeal panel of the Town Planning Board had noted that conflicting views... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3164447/hong-kong-developer-secures-right-build-homes-wetland-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3164447/hong-kong-developer-secures-right-build-homes-wetland-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:00:29 +0000 Police have arrested and laid charges against two former Cathay Pacific flight attendants for alleged violations of home isolation rules that coincided with the arrival of the Omicron variant in Hong Kong. The pair – who were believed to have been carrying the highly transmissible variant while allegedly interacting with others in public during what was meant to be a three-day self-isolation period – were released on bail on Monday, and will appear at Tuen Mun Court and Eastern Court,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3163745/omicron-2-ex-cathay-pacific-flight-attendants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3163745/omicron-2-ex-cathay-pacific-flight-attendants?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Jan 2022 16:59:49 +0000 Hong Kong’s leader is expected to unveil details of the biggest overhaul of the government since 2007 at the inaugural session of the new legislature on Wednesday, as well as provide an update on her ambitious plan to build a new town along the border with mainland China. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is envisioning separating the housing portfolio from the existing Transport and Housing Bureau. The new body would then dedicate itself to resolving the city’s shortage of available... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3162993/hong-kong-leader-expected-brief-first-legco-session-massive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3162993/hong-kong-leader-expected-brief-first-legco-session-massive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jan 2022 01:00:22 +0000 The authenticity of three boundary stones once used to mark the limits of Hong Kong’s first colonial settlement has been confirmed, after the relics were uncovered by groups of history lovers. The Antiquities and Monuments Office said on Friday its staff had visited the three sites at Lung Fu Shan, Mount Davis and Mount Nicholson near Rosary Hill School, and recorded the details of the stones. It confirmed the “City Boundary 1903” inscriptions on the three stones, noting the construction style... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3160189/where-city-victoria-authenticity-confirmed-3-more-boundary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3160189/where-city-victoria-authenticity-confirmed-3-more-boundary?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:02:31 +0000 The Hong Kong Legislative Council’s sole seat for the real estate and construction sector will be contested for the first time in 17 years, with two candidates vying to reflect the interests of the city’s powerful property tycoons. Shamed by state media for hoarding land and blamed for the city’s sky-high home prices, the tycoons have seen their influence diminished under Beijing’s overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system. In the first of a four-part series on this month’s election, the Post... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3158535/beijing-media-wrong-blame-hong-kong-property-tycoons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3158535/beijing-media-wrong-blame-hong-kong-property-tycoons?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Dec 2021 00:00:27 +0000 The housing minister has conceded that substantially reducing the time residents must wait for a public flat could take up to 20 years, a stunning admission that angered lawmakers who demanded the government do better to meet one of the most pressing challenges facing Hong Kong. The legislators grilled Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan in the Legislative Council on Wednesday over the progress being made in cutting down the wait for public flats from nearly six years, which is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152988/hong-kong-minister-says-it-could-take-20-years-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3152988/hong-kong-minister-says-it-could-take-20-years-government?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Oct 2021 06:11:29 +0000 A Hong Kong developer behind a residential project planned at an ecologically sensitive wetland has insisted no one should influence the town planning authority in vetting its scheme, even though the site lies within a conservation area outlined in the government’s Northern Metropolis blueprint. The scenic Nam Sang Wai wetlands in Yuen Long, spanning a number of abandoned fish ponds and home to the city’s largest reed bed, is a popular site for picnicking and photography. Chief Executive Carrie... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152933/property-developer-rights-prized-wetlands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3152933/property-developer-rights-prized-wetlands?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Oct 2021 16:34:31 +0000 A set of laws related to town planning, reclamation and roadworks will be amended to speed up land and housing supply and do away with “unreasonable” arrangements, while reducing avenues for the public to raise objections, Hong Kong development officials have revealed. Town planners and an advocacy group agreed the legal amendments could prevent abuses, but warned against sweeping changes that would reduce people’s right to object to projects that affect them. The planned law changes were part... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3151734/hong-kong-amend-unreasonable-planning-rules-cut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3151734/hong-kong-amend-unreasonable-planning-rules-cut?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Oct 2021 15:41:53 +0000 Hong Kong’s border area with mainland China will be built into a new Northern Metropolis of 2.5 million people in 20 years, including a “Silicon Valley” that will closely interact with neighbouring Shenzhen, according to a blueprint laid down by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her policy address on Wednesday. The scheme, repackaged and expanded from an existing new town plan, is seen as a major strategic change for development, moving the centre away from Hong Kong Island to the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151428/proposed-northern-metropolis-near-mainland-china-border?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151428/proposed-northern-metropolis-near-mainland-china-border?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Oct 2021 16:15:18 +0000 This article has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Over the course of more than two hours, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Wednesday covered almost every aspect of governance in the last policy address of her term – from national security to housing to climate change. But while significant time was spent lauding her administration’s accomplishments to date, there were also substantial... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151381/hong-kong-policy-address-new-territories-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151381/hong-kong-policy-address-new-territories-metropolis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Oct 2021 09:10:38 +0000 Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s last policy address of this term will feature a massive plan for “comprehensive development” near Hong Kong’s border with mainland China, along with initiatives to boost land supply for housing and grow the economy, the Post has learned. The border area development will expand an existing new town project to cover vast swathes of land across New Territories North, making it comparable in scale with the ambitious reclamation scheme off Lantau Island... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151211/carrie-lam-policy-address-solutions-hong-kongs-housing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3151211/carrie-lam-policy-address-solutions-hong-kongs-housing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Oct 2021 04:34:57 +0000 Hong Kong’s biggest property developers have denied coming under pressure from mainland Chinese officials to solve the city’s housing woes, following reports that Beijing is losing patience with the industry. The Real Estate Developers Association also stressed that its members, which include Sun Hung Kai Properties, Henderson Land Development and CK Asset Holdings, were continuing to support the Hong Kong government in boosting housing supply and improving living standards. The association’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3149984/hong-kong-property-giants-deny-beijing-ramping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3149984/hong-kong-property-giants-deny-beijing-ramping?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Sep 2021 08:56:32 +0000 Hong Kong’s leader has said developers have been more cooperative in trying to boost the housing supply in recent years, while a real estate group has revealed that property tycoons will meet this week to find out whether Beijing officials discussed the issue with individual members. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was asked whether Beijing had indeed told tycoons to throw their resources and influence behind central government efforts to ease housing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149528/carrie-lam-says-hong-kong-property-developers-more-helpful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149528/carrie-lam-says-hong-kong-property-developers-more-helpful?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Sep 2021 04:54:36 +0000 Hong Kong’s Urban Renewal Authority needs more land, not money, from the government to do a better job of boosting the city’s housing supply, according to chairman Chow Chung-kong. Having the necessary land would free the statutory body to build homes and relocate residents without first having to pay hefty compensation to acquire buildings, he said in an interview with the Post. The URA was also exploring new ideas for future projects, Chow said, including transferring plot ratios – which... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3147639/hong-kongs-urban-renewal-authority-ready-build?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3147639/hong-kongs-urban-renewal-authority-ready-build?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Sep 2021 00:00:20 +0000 The head of the Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong’s rural powerhouse, is fed up that villagers in the New Territories have become a punching bag in the debate over the city’s shortage of land for housing. Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, the pro-Beijing group’s chairman, told the Post that the government’s rigid restrictions over development of the countryside had blocked the release of more land for housing and deserved to be blamed instead. Lau said his group’s proposals to sell ancestral land to developers and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3145927/punching-bags-over-housing-shortage-powerful-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3145927/punching-bags-over-housing-shortage-powerful-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Aug 2021 00:00:17 +0000 In the second of a three-part series on Hong Kong’s housing crisis, the Post looks at the part played by the MTR Corporation and Urban Renewal Authority in providing homes for Hongkongers. Read part one here. Joanna Wong remembers the excitement of being among the first residents to move into Lohas Park, a seafront private estate in Tseung Kwan O in 2009. Her family of three paid HK$11,000 a month to rent a 680 sq ft flat in one of the five blocks at The Capitol, the project’s first phase. ‘It’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3144664/hong-kongs-housing-crisis-mtr-corps-project-delays-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3144664/hong-kongs-housing-crisis-mtr-corps-project-delays-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Aug 2021 00:00:14 +0000 In the first of a three-part series on Hong Kong’s housing crisis, the Post examines why demand outstrips supply, leaving Hongkongers unable to afford their own homes. Airport worker Wong Ng is aware that Beijing wants Hong Kong to get rid of all tiny, substandard homes by 2049. That ambitious goal is cold comfort for the permanent resident who has been waiting seven years to rent a public flat. “Maybe it is possible, but many of us cannot wait until 2049. There’s still 28 years to go,” said... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3144514/hong-kongs-housing-crisis-soaring-prices-put-flats-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3144514/hong-kongs-housing-crisis-soaring-prices-put-flats-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Aug 2021 00:00:23 +0000 This is the second in a series of articles based on a wide-ranging Post interview with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. The first can be found here and the third here. Plans for the area of northern Hong Kong nearest Shenzhen need to be reviewed to identify more sites for development and spur interaction between the two cities, finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po has said. Noting the need to conserve wetlands there, Chan said available plots should be re-examined to help Hong Kong solve its... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3142367/take-another-look-hong-kong-border-area-near?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3142367/take-another-look-hong-kong-border-area-near?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jul 2021 01:00:24 +0000 This is the first in a series of articles based on a wide-ranging Post interview with Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. Read part two here and part three here. Hong Kong has enough land for development but planning processes need to be simplified to prevent abuse and speed up the release of supply to tackle the city’s housing crisis, according to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po. He also advocated a rethink of current plans for the area near Hong Kong’s boundary with Shenzhen, to identify... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3142340/paul-chan-housing-hong-kong-has-land-must-cut-red?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3142340/paul-chan-housing-hong-kong-has-land-must-cut-red?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jul 2021 01:00:25 +0000 Key points in measures to achieve air quality targets: • Promote new energy vehicles such as electric cars and ferries, as well as expand rail network • Increase clean energy and study alternatives such as hydrogen, while tightening emissions caps for power plants • Study long-term health impacts of air pollution • Adopt new technology to monitor air quality, such as microsensors on lamp posts • Monitor and study VOC (volatile organic compounds) and ozone formation through regional... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3139148/hong-kong-sets-new-goal-reach-tokyo-paris-levels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3139148/hong-kong-sets-new-goal-reach-tokyo-paris-levels?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jun 2021 07:19:10 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3137413/hong-kongs-urban-renewal-authority-build-18000-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3137413/hong-kongs-urban-renewal-authority-build-18000-new?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jun 2021 14:07:26 +0000 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133558/major-hong-kong-developer-release-land-public-housing-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133558/major-hong-kong-developer-release-land-public-housing-day?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 May 2021 13:44:36 +0000 Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has revived a controversial housing idea that was shot down by the current government and is pushing again for public flats to be built on the fringes of a protected country park, this time also suggesting they should be sold for less than under the existing policy. His tone and detailed policy-like approach has sparked speculation again of a possible leadership comeback bid ahead of the chief executive election in March, while some have cautioned that his... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133411/ex-hong-kong-leader-revives-plan-build-public-flats-country?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133411/ex-hong-kong-leader-revives-plan-build-public-flats-country?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 May 2021 15:25:50 +0000 A government plan to build a new town near the border with mainland China was “shockingly” rushed and presented to the legislature for a funding bid, rural leaders and groups in Hong Kong have said, insisting they have not been properly consulted. The Development Bureau submitted a paper to the Legislative Council on Monday, stating that it would make a funding request in the second quarter of the year for HK$994.6 million (US$128 million) to conduct investigations and detailed works design for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3132128/hong-kong-rural-leaders-groups-cry-foul-over-shockingly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3132128/hong-kong-rural-leaders-groups-cry-foul-over-shockingly?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 May 2021 23:30:21 +0000 Hundreds of private rural plots zoned as village land in Hong Kong are not as unfit for development as the government has claimed and can be used for public housing, a research group has argued. Liber Research Community said it also found land in village zones that had remained idle in the hands of private developers for decades, calling this a waste of resources. In its latest study, the civic group that focuses on land issues scrutinised vacant village plots in the New Territories and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3131968/there-more-land-hong-kong-housing-government-claims-yes-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3131968/there-more-land-hong-kong-housing-government-claims-yes-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 May 2021 02:00:25 +0000 Residents of a luxury housing block in Hong Kong have challenged the legal grounds for a 21-day quarantine at government facilities imposed on them after a domestic helper from their building was found to be infected with a mutant strain of the coronavirus. Some in the group even sent lawyers’ letters to the Department of Health, arguing the move could amount to “false imprisonment” if authorities could not legally justify their actions. The helper was discharged from hospital and sent to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3131324/residents-luxury-hong-kong-housing-block-question?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3131324/residents-luxury-hong-kong-housing-block-question?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Apr 2021 14:28:52 +0000 Traditional opposition strongholds in the Hong Kong legislature’s functional constituencies have been left intact by Beijing’s drastic electoral overhaul, but their presence on the Election Committee that picks the city’s leader has been severely curtailed, seemingly contradictory moves designed to keep the camp firmly in check. These were among the legal amendments the city government unveiled on Tuesday that also wiped out any opposition hope in the Legislative Council’s other trade-based... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3129423/concession-or-control-beijings-electoral-overhaul-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3129423/concession-or-control-beijings-electoral-overhaul-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Apr 2021 02:00:21 +0000 Individuals in all professional sectors seen as Hong Kong’s opposition stronghold will no longer have the right to vote in the Election Committee to pick the city’s leader, as all 300 of such seats will either be appointed, or chosen by corporate voters or local representatives affiliated with mainland organisations under Beijing’s drastic overhaul of the city’s electoral system. The decision, approved unanimously on Tuesday morning by China’s top legislative body, also enlarged the powerful... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127684/beijing-weakens-influence-hong-kong-tycoons-and-strengthens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127684/beijing-weakens-influence-hong-kong-tycoons-and-strengthens?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Mar 2021 16:46:51 +0000 The landlords of nearly 100,000 subdivided Hong Kong flats will be subject to a new rental index under a proposed tenancy control bill designed to protect some of the city’s poorest residents, but the formula could still allow for rent increases of as much as 15 per cent, according to sources. The index is also not expected to take inflation or affordability into account as previously suggested. The exact formula will be set out on Wednesday when the proposal is officially unveiled. Critics have... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3127330/landlords-hong-kongs-subdivided-flats-could-still-raise-rent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3127330/landlords-hong-kongs-subdivided-flats-could-still-raise-rent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Mar 2021 00:00:08 +0000 On Lugard Road, a popular morning exercise trail circling Hong Kong’s iconic Peak, a tile-roofed house lies abandoned behind the trees, graffiti covering its walls. Some claim the structure is haunted, and rumour has it that it was built by a Chinese general 70 years ago. A bird’s eye of the view of the site reveals that the Dragon Lodge, as it is known, boasts a stunning courtyard with panoramic views of Victoria Harbour. But while rumours about the abandoned house abound, there is no public... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3126283/they-deserve-another-look-hong-kong-heritage-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3126283/they-deserve-another-look-hong-kong-heritage-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Mar 2021 00:30:08 +0000 When Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng met a group of Hong Kong representatives last weekend during the nation’s annual parliamentary meetings to brief them on the planned shake-up of the elections system, he also mentioned that the city’s housing problem had yet to be solved. The message was not lost on pro-Beijing loyalists listening to him in the capital, or back in the city. Han was serving them notice that once an “obstructionist” opposition was out of the way and the electoral changes gave... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3124917/handed-more-political-firepower-can-beijing-friendly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3124917/handed-more-political-firepower-can-beijing-friendly?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Mar 2021 00:00:15 +0000 The number of homes expected to be produced under Hong Kong’s land-sale programme has plunged to an 11-year low, prompting the government to address the shortfall by advancing the tender of a newly reclaimed site even though the railway station serving the development has yet to be built. Secretary for Development Michael Wong Wai-lun on Thursday announced the rare decision to bring forward the sale of the site at the future Tung Chung East station, admitting that this year’s programme would... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3123177/number-new-homes-expected-under-hong-kong-land?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3123177/number-new-homes-expected-under-hong-kong-land?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Feb 2021 16:00:52 +0000 Announcing a record deficit of HK$257.6 billion this year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told Hongkongers on Wednesday that a raft of countercyclical measures costing HK$120 billion were necessary to stabilise the economy and relieve people’s burden. He also identified future areas of economic growth shaped by the coronavirus pandemic and changing geopolitical landscape in the region. Here are the six key takeaways from his budget. 1. Deficit every year Chan warned that Hong Kong would... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3122928/hong-kong-budget-deficit-stamp-duty-and-national?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3122928/hong-kong-budget-deficit-stamp-duty-and-national?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Feb 2021 08:09:28 +0000 Almost 100,000 subdivided flats, home to some of Hong Kong’s poorest people, could become subject to a rent control mechanism to safeguard tenants from exploitation by landlords. The mechanism would take into account various factors, such as inflation, said Dr William Leung Wing-cheung, who heads a government task force studying tenancy control of shoebox homes as tiny as 15 sq ft. He told the Post any moves to protect tenants under a proposed bill regulating such flats would be a “compromise... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3122526/rent-control-proposal-hong-kongs-smallest-homes-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3122526/rent-control-proposal-hong-kongs-smallest-homes-will?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Feb 2021 03:22:02 +0000 Cheung and her husband were more than HK$100,000 in debt when they first settled into a transitional home run by a social enterprise. Three years later, they have saved double that amount, repaid the debt and are now earning enough to rent a new place. “In the three years there, [my husband] made fewer impulsive purchases, became more responsible to the family and learned how to save money. Now we’re able to rent a two-bedroom flat while we wait for public housing. It’s good for our children,”... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3122055/flat-alone-not-enough-hong-kong-social-enterprise-light-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3122055/flat-alone-not-enough-hong-kong-social-enterprise-light-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Feb 2021 02:00:11 +0000