'Rezone All New Territories Farmland For Housing'

The founder of Centaline Property agency on Wednesday called for rezoning of all farmland in the New Territories for housing and said private developers should be allowed to build there to meet Hong Kong's housing demand.

Developing farmland for housing is one of 18 options listed in a public consultation on ways to boost the territory's land supply.

But Shih Wing-ching said he believes there shouldn't be any private-public partnership in developing the farmland, as it would only trigger suspicions of collusion.

"Actually we have no agriculture in Hong Kong for a very long time. But still a lot of land is classified as agricultural land. We should change the use of the land first," he said.

But Shih said the government should allow developers to build flats themselves. He said it is not easy for the government to take back the land.

In Hong Kong, we still have a capitalist society and we protect the property rights," he said. Unless the government needs the land for public interest, and there is no other substitute, it is difficult to take over the land, he said.

Shih also said that Hong Kong needs more than double the 1,200 hectares estimated by the government for housing development in the next three decades.

He told RTHK's Janice Wong that the government needs to increase the percentage of land used for residential purposes by 3 percent, to 10 percent.