Carrie Lam says Hong Kong property developers more helpful on housing, but declines to confirm report claiming Beijing making tycoons toe line

‘All I can say is that the central government cares a lot about Hong Kong’s livelihood issues,’ city leader says while refusing to address ‘rumours’

Association of real estate developers to meet on Friday so members can share whether they were recently approached by Beijing over the housing crisis

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Hong Kong’s property developers have been more cooperative when it comes to aiding housing supply efforts, Carrie Lam has said. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 12:54pm, 21 Sep 2021Updated: 11:32pm, 21 Sep 2021

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 woes, as reported by Reuters.

According to the report, developers in the closed-door meeting were also told “the rules of the games have changed” and that Beijing would no longer tolerate “monopoly behaviour”. Reuters did not specify when the meeting took place.

Hong Kong’s stock market was rattled on Monday, with the Hang Seng Property subindex tumbling 6.7 per cent, its lowest level in more than five years. Shares in major developers Henderson Land, Sun Hung Kai and New World Development each plunged by at least 10 per cent.

But Lam said she could neither verify nor comment on what she called “rumours”.

“All I can say is that the central government cares a lot about Hong Kong’s livelihood issues. It wants to boost the city’s governance and solve the livelihood issues after improving our electoral system,” she said.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam addresses the press ahead of her weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday. Photo: Nora Tam

The lack of affordable housing is one of the most pressing problems facing Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive property market, and Lam has identified the issue as a key focus of the final year of her current term in office.