Sun Hung Kai and think tank call for the increase of plot ratio in wetland buffer to increase land supply for affordable homes

Building density in the Wetland Buffer Zone could be higher to accommodate medium-height apartment buildings, said SHKP’s planning director

The Our Hong Kong Foundation also supports a review of the planning regulations for the city’s wetlands, as they were first drafted in 1997

Reading Time:3 minutes

Migratory birds stop over on dried lands and fish ponds in Tai Sang Wai, near Mai Po nature reserve in Yuen Long on December 13, 2019. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:30am, 28 Apr 2021Updated: 8:54am, 28 Apr 2021

Hong Kong’s largest developer by capitalisation and a prominent think tank are urging the local government to allow areas with low ecological value within the city’s wetlands buffer area to be developed into higher-density housing projects to alleviate housing shortage.

Building density in the Wetland Buffer Zone, a strip of land measuring about 1,200 hectares (2,965 acres) about 500 metres away from the Deep Bay Wetland Conservation Area in the northwestern corner of Hong Kong’s New Territories near the border with Shenzhen, could be higher to accommodate medium-height apartments of about 15 stories, said Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP)’s planning and development project director Spencer Lu.

The current plot ratio – the total built-up area of a development divided by the total site area – in the buffer zone is between 0.2 and 0.4 times, which limits the versatility of the land in the area, forcing developers to build million-dollar villas such as the Palm Springs development to remain profitable.

“Development versus conservation is not a zero-sum game,” said Robert Chan, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, a unit of the developer, citing the firm’s latest housing project in the buffer area of Tin Shui Wai as the benchmark of property development integrated in nature conservation.

Wetland Seasons Park in Tin Shui Wai by Sun Hung Kai Properties on April 20, 2021. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

The developer already has three residential projects in the buffer area, including the 1,727 apartments at the Wetland Seasons Park in Tin Shui Wai with a plot area of between 1.39 times and 2.15 times. The second, adjacent project under construction at Tin Shui Wai Lot 33 comprises 1,765 flats, 260 villas and six houses, while the third project at Tung Shing Lei in Yuen Long offers 1,518 apartments.

Sun Hung Kai and think tank call for the increase of plot ratio in wetland buffer to increase land supply for affordable homes

Building density in the Wetland Buffer Zone could be higher to accommodate medium-height apartment buildings, said SHKP’s planning director The Our Hong Kong Foundation also supports a review of the planning regulations for the city’s wetlands, as they were first drafted in 1997

Building density in the Wetland Buffer Zone could be higher to accommodate medium-height apartment buildings, said SHKP’s planning director

The Our Hong Kong Foundation also supports a review of the planning regulations for the city’s wetlands, as they were first drafted in 1997