'Govt Seizing The Initiative In Boosting Land Supply'

Development Secretary Bernadette Linn on Sunday said the government's bid to provide over 3,000 hectares of spade-ready sites for housing in the coming decade demonstrates that the authorities are seizing the initiative in boosting land supply.

Speaking on a radio programme, the minister said the plan is expected to provide 72,000 private housing units in the coming five years, up from 65,000 in the past five years.

She said the forecast for a 10-year supply of developable land is itself a key performance indicator (KPI), and expressed confidence that the target will be met on time.

"Our release of the 10-year forecast of [providing] these spade-ready sites is already a KPI in itself, because it's a very solemn release of a forecast. And the government team will try our best to proceed with the conclusion of relevant studies, and get the land formed in time," she told reporters after attending the programme.

Linn also dismissed concerns that private developers would work to obstruct the government from generating developable land out of their own self-interest.

She noted that there’ll be ample opportunities for private developers to play a role in developing new land, though she warned that they shouldn’t try to slow things down.

“They need to cater to our timetable,” Linn stressed. “We can’t wait for them. If you’re going to build, build. If not, the land will be resumed. I think we need this kind of a consensus.”

The development chief also said officials will be doing more to help operators whose businesses will be displaced by land resumption projects in the New Territories, such as by aiding them in finding new sites.

Chief Executive John Lee had announced in his Policy Address last week that more than half of the 1,600 hectares of brownfield sites in the New Territories will be developed for housing and other purposes.