Hong Kong chief executive election 2022: can John Lee be the leader to finally untie the knotty problem of housing?
- Beijing has long singled out housing as a ‘deep-seated social issue’ plaguing Hong Kong.
- But can John Lee successfully balance land supply with demand for flats and developers’ interests when so many other leaders could not?
Hong Kong’s housing crisis has been long in the making and lethargic in its resolution. As part of the continuing chronic shortage of affordable housing, more than 220,000 residents are also currently stuck in the infamously labelled cage homes or subdivided flats, while families face an average wait of six years for public housing as of February, charting a 23-year high.
While there have been many theories, the hard truth is that the city faces a dire shortage of land even as property developers are sitting on land banks, controlling supply and therefore heavily influencing prices. The government, meanwhile, being highly dependent on land revenue as a major source of income, is saying its stocks are limited and it is not prepared to sell land cheaply.
Just how to resolve these conflicting agendas will now be Lee’s problem. Given that Beijing had repeatedly also said housing was a deep-rooted issue and the source of public unhappiness, analysts and lawmakers alike are watching keenly how Lee intends to untie this Gordian knot – finding enough land and speeding up the building of new homes.
Lee’s first chance to deliver will come on Friday, as he plans to unveil his election platform focusing on housing, care for the elderly, technology, youth development and civil service reform, among other topics.
A preliminary check with sources on his manifesto suggests the city’s former No 2 official will aim to address housing and land issues based on his “new ideology” of a results-oriented approach. But sources said he would aim to build mostly on existing projects amalgamated from the playbooks of previous chief executives, rather than propose groundbreaking ideas.
