Government announces 2023-24 Land Sale Programme (with photos/video)
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The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, today (February 23) announced the Government’s 2023-24 Land Sale Programme.
“The 2023-24 Land Sale Programme covers 12 residential sites, capable of providing about 9 120 flats; three commercial sites, providing over 200 000 square metres of gross floor area (GFA); and three industrial sites, providing about 170 000 sq m of GFA,” Ms Linn said.
On residential sites, apart from the 12 sites available for sale, railway property development projects and projects of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will contribute to private housing land supply in 2023-24. The MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) plans to put up for tender the residential development projects at Oyster Bay Package 1; Oyster Bay Package 2; and Tung Chung East Station Package 1 in the coming financial year. The three projects are capable of providing about 4 530 flats in total. In addition, the URA plans to take forward three projects at Shing Tak Street/Ma Tau Chung Road and Kai Tak Road/Sa Po Road in Kowloon City; as well as Nga Tsin Wai Village in Wong Tai Sin, capable of providing a total of about 2 200 flats. As for private development/redevelopment projects, with reference to the figures in the past decade, the supply in 2023-24 is estimated to be around 4 700 flats.
Taking into consideration the estimated land supply from Government land sales, projects of the MTRCL and the URA, as well as private development/redevelopment projects, the private housing land supply in 2023-24 is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 20 550 flats.
Pursuant to the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2022 released by the Government in October 2022, the total housing supply target for the coming decade is 430 000 units and the public/private housing split remains at 70:30. The target for private housing land supply in 2023-24 is hence 12 900 flats. That said, the actual land supply for private housing will depend on various factors, including market conditions, the timely completion of necessary procedures leading up to land sales, the progress of railway property and URA projects, and the intention and progress of developers’ private development/redevelopment projects. The Government is confident that the private housing land supply from various sources will exceed the supply target in the coming financial year.
It was announced in the 2022 Policy Address that suitable sites would be identified to support the Starter Homes for Hong Kong Residents (SH) project as well as the Youth Hostel Scheme (YHS) in the coming financial year. Ms Linn said that a site in Yau Kom Tau, Tsuen Wan, has been identified by the Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Housing Bureau (HB) for the SH project. The site is capable of providing about 1 950 flats and is scheduled for disposal in Q1 2023-24. The HB is now formulating the development model, parameters and other details of the project for announcement in due course.
As for the YHS, the DEVB and the Home and the Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) have identified the Tung Chung Area 106A site to incorporate youth hostel units. The Government will require, via land sale conditions, the developer to construct youth hostel units and facilities prescribed by the Government. It is expected that such units and facilities would not exceed 10 per cent of the total GFA, which will not be counted towards the maximum permissible GFA. The HYAB is now formulating the details of the project, which will be announced in due course when the site is put up for sale.
Reviewing the private housing land supply in 2022-23, Ms Linn said, “The Government would have sold a total of eight residential sites by the end of the financial year, which have a total capacity to produce about 5 180 flats. The aggregate private housing land supply in 2022-23 from different sources, including Government land sale, railway property development projects, projects of the URA and private development/redevelopment projects, is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 16 050 flats, exceeding the total annual supply target by 25 per cent.”
As for commercial sites in 2022-23, the Government has sold two commercial sites and the tender for a third one is ongoing. Together, they could provide around 165 000 sq m GFA. In 2023-24, the Government Land Sale Programme includes three commercial sites in Wan Chai, Admiralty and Kai Tak respectively, which are capable of providing a total of about 202 000 sq m GFA. The Government also announced, for the first time in the annual Land Sale Programme, that three industrial sites in Yuen Long will be put up for sale in the coming financial year, which can produce about 170 000 sq m GFA in total.
Ms Linn emphasised that sufficient land supply is key to enhancing Hong Kong’s capacity for economic and industrial development. In pursuing large-scale developments in the New Territories, the Government also aspires to make available sufficient land for the long-term development of industries, through comprehensive planning with due regard to the benefits of cluster development. The three industrial sites in Yuen Long can be deployed for development of modern industrial buildings to accommodate some of the brownfield operators intending to re-establish their business, so as to enhance land use efficiency and promote industrial development.
For the first quarter of 2023-24, i.e. April to June 2023, the Government will put up for tender two residential sites in Tsuen Wan and Kennedy Town, which are capable of providing a total of about 2 400 flats.
Taking also into consideration the land supply from five private development/redevelopment projects (about 360 flats), the private housing land supply in the first quarter of 2023-24 is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 2 760 flats.
Ms Linn said that the Government is firmly committed to maintaining a steady and sustained land supply through a multi-pronged approach to meet the housing and socio-economic development needs of the community. The Government will follow the established practice to announce in advance the quarterly land sale programme in order to provide transparency and certainty to the market.
The 2023-24 Land Sale Programme can be found on the Lands Department’s website (www.landsd.gov.hk).