Hong Kong government told to take back private developer sites to prevent ‘nosedive’ in supply of affordable flats
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Governors of Hong Kong’s largest public housing provider have warned of a potential “nosedive” in the supply of flats within three years, with some urging the government to use private sites to build affordable homes.
Members of the Housing Authority called for radical solutions on Monday to tackle shortages in public housing as the government falls behind its targets.
“The current public housing supply is far behind the target set by the government’s long-term strategy,” said member Wilson Or Chong-shing, who is also a lawmaker from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
“I’m very concerned that the supply will take a further nosedive in the coming three years.”
The situation looks particularly acute in 2022-23, when the production of public flats is forecast to plunge by 26 per cent on the previous year.
Or urged the government to take back sites earmarked to be sold to developers for private housing and use them to build affordable homes instead.
“If nothing has been done, we can foresee that the waiting time for public rental housing will only increase, and the oversubscription for subsidised sale homes will keep being outlandish,” Or said.
Another member Anthony Chiu Kwok-wai, executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, said the authority could identify existing public rental housing estates which had not taken up its permitted development density, and use the surplus allowance to build affordable sale flats for tenants wishing to get on the property ladder.
“I know building ‘needle towers’ in existing estates is controversial, but now the situation is too severe to dismiss any suggestion,” Chiu said at the meeting, which was held to gather members’ opinions.
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Needle towers are buildings on very small sites, which provide tiny flats and often worsen the air flow and natural light intake in the neighbourhoods they are built in.
Chiu added tenants should be allowed to purchase the flats they rent to meet the demand from such households for owning a home in their own neighbourhoods.
She said those properties were often located in good areas, which are suitable for housing developments.
The authority has six factory estates, providing small units for light industries. The annual occupancy rate there between 2014 and 2017 was an average 99 per cent.
Member Chua Hoi-wai, chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), said the government should require the semi-public Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to turn some of its redevelopment projects into affordable housing projects.
Director of Housing Stanley Ying Yiu-hong will respond to members’ opinions and suggestions at a meeting on July 12.