Hong Kong to take more cautious approach to land sales despite expected market ‘uplift’ from removal of property curbs, development chief says
- Development chief Bernadette Linn rolls out land sale programme for coming financial year, with eight residential sites estimated to provide 5,690 private flats
- Linn also hints at further delay in sale of prime commercial site Queensway Plaza in Admiralty
Hong Kong’s development minister has said the government will take a more cautious approach to selling land this year, although she believes the scrapping of property cooling measures will “uplift” the market.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho on Thursday rolled out the land sale programme for the 2024-25 financial year, with eight residential sites, including six unsold ones from the previous list, estimated to offer about 5,690 flats.
Linn also hinted at a further delay to the sale of a prime commercial site, the Queensway Plaza shopping centre in Admiralty, which was on last year’s list, saying market sentiment was not appropriate.
The six residential sites rolled over from the current financial year are located in Stanley, Kai Tak, Sai Kung, Cheung Sha on Lantau Island, Tung Chung and Tuen Mun. The two new sites are in Siu Lek Yuen in Sha Tin.
Together with other sources, such as urban redevelopment, private development and rail property projects, the potential supply of flats is estimated to reach 15,150 in 2024-25, higher than the government’s annual private housing land supply target of about 13,000 homes.
But for the first quarter of the coming financial year, Linn revealed that the government only planned to put up for sale a 2,300 square metre site in Siu Lek Yuen, which could provide around 280 flats.
