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Hong Kong government told to take back private developer sites to prevent ‘nosedive’ in supply of affordable flats
- Housing chiefs warn shortages likely to worsen by 2022 as government struggles to meet targets
- Reverse land sales to developers and convert industrial sites into public housing to fend off fresh homes crisis, say governors
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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.
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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.”
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Insufficient supply is heaping more pressure on the city’s public housing system, where the waiting time for a low-rent flat has continued to rise to five and a half years, and hundreds of thousands of households typically compete for just a few thousand subsidised sale flats.
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