Space-starved Hong Kong to hit target of building 15,000 transitional homes by 2023, leader says
- Carrie Lam reveals government has found enough land to meet goal first laid down in 2019 policy address
- But leader in surveying industry calls on administration to speed up construction process, noting long wait for public housing
Hong Kong has found enough land to meet its three-year target of building 15,000 transitional homes, the city’s leader has said, describing the achievement as a “breakthrough” in delivering faster help to low-income groups.
“No matter if we are doing temporary housing, social housing or transitional housing, it’s a breakthrough for us,” Lam told local radio. “We know for public housing, we need more time to improve the living environments for low-income families, so being able to speed that up is our mission.”
To help residents on the waiting list, Lam’s administration is using temporarily available land or vacant premises leased by the government or private developers for transitional housing.
In her 2019 policy address, Lam set a target of building 10,000 housing units within the next three years but later revised the figure to 15,000. The government announced in February it had found enough land to supply 14,000 transitional homes by 2023. More than 1,100 flats had already been completed and 2,400 others were under construction.
