ebulletin

March 3, 2021
Government's 2021-22 Land Sale Programme announced
Fifteen residential sites are on the list. Four are on Hong Kong Island, one in Kowloon and 10 in the New Territories. They will provide about 6,000 units. There will be three railway property development projects - two in Tung Chung and one in Tseung Kwan O Pak Shing Kok which can provide about 4,050 flats. Meanwhile, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) plans to take forward six projects, providing about 3,170 flats.
Secretary for Development Michael Wong said: "Taking also into consideration the forecasted land supply from the projects of the MTR Corporation and the URA, as well as private development/redevelopment projects, the total potential private housing land supply in 2021-22 is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 16,500 flats."
He noted that the actual supply of private housing land will depend on various factors, including market conditions, the readiness for sale of government sites upon timely completion of relevant procedures and the implementation progress of railway property developments and the URA's projects. For commercial land, there will be three sites put up for sale, which will yield about 478,600 sq m of gross floor area in total. Two of them are in Kai Tak and one is in Tung Chung. Mr Wong said the government will continue to provide a stable commercial land supply in order to sustain Hong Kong's economic development and competitiveness, regardless of any short-term market fluctuations.
"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. We may put up additional sites for sale in the quarters depending on the situation, so as to flexibly respond to changing market conditions," he added.

Tung Chung East development

Subsidy for old buildings drainage repair
The government is considering that the subsidy for owners of old buildings to carry out drainage repair or enhancement works will cover about 80% of the costs involved, Secretary for Development Michael Wong said earlier. Mr Wong explained that the subsidy scheme will closely follow the framework for Operation Building Bright 2.0 and consist of two parts. "One part will be subsidies for buildings with owners who can organise repair works by themselves in a joint effort. The other part will be for buildings with owners who cannot organise themselves to do the renovation works necessary. These works will be done for them by the Buildings Department."
He added that the subsidy under the proposed scheme will cover part of the expenses for the works. "What we are thinking now is we will cover up to 80% of the costs involved. The reason is that, if we use public money to fully cover the costs involved, there might be risk of moral hazard, because owners might believe that even if they do not maintain the upkeep of the building, every time repair works will be covered by money from the public purse. We do not think it is a wise move. So owners will have to shoulder part of the costs, and at the moment, we are thinking about 20% will be the right approach."

Subsidy for owners of old buildings to carry out repair works