Letters | Will Hong Kong’s HK$32 million government overhaul solve the housing crisis?

Readers suggest what the proposed Housing Bureau could focus on, question the lengthy wait for a foreign-currency cheque to clear, and highlight the problem of merchants refusing to accept coins

Reading Time:2 minutes

A housing project under construction in November 2018, in Tuen Mun. Hong Kong does not need more micro flats, but reasonably sized ones that would allow family members to live together. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 7:30am, 20 Jan 2022

I am writing with reference to “Does Carrie lam’s ambitious plan to overhaul the Hong Kong government go far enough?” (January 13). The report mentions that the changes will cost the government an extra HK$32 million (US$4 million) a year.

The “housing shortage” that has afflicted Hong Kong for decades is a structural problem. In a previous letter to the Post (“What lies behind Hong Kong’s perpetual housing shortage”, June 22), I discussed one of the major issues affecting the Hong Kong property market.

Now, I would like to comment on whether this government restructuring is likely to have any impact on the housing shortage.

The supply of homes is determined by a number of factors: land availability, infrastructure support, availability of construction workers, materials and equipment. From all the media reports, land supply would seem to be the bottleneck. However, Hong Kong uses less than 8 per cent of its available land for housing, so the simple question is: why do we not have enough land?

Reasons such as our hilly landscape and the preservation of country parks are not good enough. The real reason is that we are simply not building enough reasonably sized homes to allow families to live together, hence young people are moving away from their parents to have some space of their own.

There are a number of flats which are occupied by one elderly person. A thorough understanding of how public flats are being occupied – and not continuing to build smaller flats – is key to delivering a more effective solution.

The government needs to be focused. One solution is developing Yuen Long and its neighbouring districts to supply mid-to-high-density flats and creating a new commercial business district in the New Territories North West. This will facilitate the natural migration of people and ease the density in Kowloon and certain parts of Hong Kong Island.