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Chiu Kam-kuen
International Director and Chief Executive of Greater China at Cushman & Wakefield
Housing problems have been causing Hong Kong people continued misgivings over the past few decades. Residents have suffered from either unaffordable prices for habitable residences, or increasing waiting times for public housing allocations.
Providing subsidised housing for young couples can effectively help disadvantaged households in Hong Kong and alleviate the problem of poverty.
A north-south railway line should be added to the plan so that the population in the north can travel directly to southern urban areas, says Chiu Kam-kuen of Cushman & Wakefield.
Carrie Lam’s measures on the Northern Metropolis, easing development barriers in the New Territories and urban renewal will go a long way in expanding the availability of land for housing in the years ahead.
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The latest Private Domestic Property Price Index released by the Rating and Valuation Department has surged to 393.7, only 0.8 per cent lower than 396.9, the highest index point recorded back in May of 2019.
As the government has in the past overlooked actual demand on communal facilities at public housing estates, the new schemes should have capacity to support necessary infrastructure for future population growth.
As Hong Kong remains the world’s least affordable housing market for the 11th straight year, more starter home projects must be set up to help the youth to buy homes by increasing land supply.
Slow progress todate suggests the government needs to step up the efficiency and effectiveness of its land resumption practices to spur land supply and public housing developments.
The government should construct a comprehensive brownfield database and plan for ways to accommodate the existing occupants, writes Chiu Kam-kuen of Cushman & Wakefield.
Data centres are instrumental to the successful development of Hong Kong’s pillar industries, being integral to the efficient operation of financial, trading and logistics services in the city.
The coronavirus pandemic has put the city’s health care system under tremendous pressure to meet even current needs. Efforts to enhance the system – as an integral part of urban planning process – is desperately needed.
The relentlessly soaring real estate prices and unstable housing supply of the past decade is the result of inadequate planning for long-term supply by the government, writes KK Chiu of Cushman & Wakefield.
The conversion of vacant school sites could effectively relieve the shortage of public housing in the short term, writes Chiu Kam-kuen of Cushman & Wakefield
Hong Kong has the most expensive housing among developed countries and regions in the world. But real wages have hardly kept up with surging real-estate prices.
The government is considering setting up a so-called “smart” car parking system with 200 parking slots at the junction between Yen Chow Street and Tung Chau Street in Sham Shui Po.
While the government aims to improve the social mobility of Hong Kong’s youth, it is lamentable that they may have to live in temporary ‘pipe homes’, says Chiu Kam-kuen of Cushman & Wakefield
As the impact of vacancy tax on overall supply of residential units in Hong Kong is likely to be limited, the public and the government should discuss other feasible long-term solutions.
The government should adopt a multipronged approach and consider any option that can increase land supply to address the city’s housing shortage.
