The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Policy Address | One of the General Review of Lam Cheng's Land and Housing Policy has entered a "state of chaos"

2020-10-06T23:41:44.084Z


Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will issue this year's "policy address" on October 14. Among them, land and housing policies are regarded as the most serious among the many livelihood problems in Hong Kong, and they are expected to be the focus of the policy address. Since taking office, Lam Cheng has also described the land and housing policy as "the top priority." Since the launch of the "Land Debate" in 2018, the Lam Cheng government has introduced a lot of land and housing policies, ranging from land resumption to subsidies provided by households. The third policy address of the current government is coming soon, and Lam Cheng's five-year term has reached the middle and late stages. How is Lam Cheng's land and housing policy implemented? On the whole, most of the policies are now "only hear the noise of stairs", especially the slow progress in land search; housing policy is mainly based on small repairs and small supplements. One of the policies has even entered a "state of chaos," and the chance of it being "unfinished" is high. This article will select key points for a review.


Political situation

Written by: Lin Jian

2020-10-07 07:30

Last update date: 2020-10-07 07:30

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will issue this year's "policy address" on October 14.

Among them, land and housing policies are regarded as the most serious among the many livelihood problems in Hong Kong, and they are expected to be the focus of the policy address.

Since taking office, Lam Cheng has also described the land and housing policy as "the top priority."

Since the launch of the "Land Debate" in 2018, the Lam Cheng government has introduced a lot of land and housing policies, ranging from land resumption to subsidies provided by households.

The third policy address of the current government is coming soon, and Lam Cheng's five-year term has reached the middle and late stages. How is Lam Cheng's land and housing policy implemented?

On the whole, most of the policies are now "only hear the noise of stairs", especially the slow progress in land search; housing policy is mainly based on small repairs and small supplements.

One of the policies has even entered a "state of chaos," and the chance of it being "unfinished" is high.

This article will select key points for a review.

▼Revisit the key points of the 2019 policy address▼

+9

+9

+9

(1) Land

Land is the "flour" for housing development.

After Lam Cheng took office, he set up a land supply task force, chaired by Huang Yuanhui, who has held several public housing positions, to start the "Land Debate". After the report of the group was released, the government announced in February last year that it would fully accept the eight priority options put forward by the group.

To be fair, land policy is a long-term goal, and it is understandable that it takes a longer time to plan. However, the government is indeed unable to provide sufficient persuasiveness for some land options, such as the performance of land resumption and housing construction.

1. Resuming land and building a house-just hear the stairs

One of Hong Kong's unused land resources is idle private agricultural land in the New Territories, of which the four major real estate developers own about 1,000 hectares.

There are two ways to unleash the potential of these land: public-private partnership, or the use of the "Land Resumption Ordinance" to directly resume development after the government has set "public uses". This is also one of the themes of the land debate.

In fact, the government has always used this ordinance for land resumption, such as Kwu Tung North, Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area.

However, the farmland owned by the developer remains intact for a long time.

"Hong Kong 01" and many concerned groups have been advocating that public-private partnerships can easily transfer development to real estate developers, and will not help solve the general housing demand. Therefore, the government should directly withdraw the development, but the establishment and the official position have always had reservations about this .

After the results of the land debate were announced, the group suggested that the two should go hand in hand while exploring the feasibility.

When the government responded to the report in February last year, although it stated that it "fully accepted" the land option recommendations of the Land Supply Task Force, it omitted the Land Resumption Ordinance and only mentioned the pilot land sharing scheme (that is, public-private partnership).

However, in September last year, the DAB transferred to support the use of the "Land Resumption Ordinance" to recover private agricultural land. Lam Cheng finally included it in the October policy address. In addition, three urban squatters (ie Cha Guo) Ling Village, Niu Chiwan Village and Zhuyuan Lianhe Village) have a total of more than 7 hectares of land to conduct a feasibility study for the development of public housing as the main axis.

As for the pilot land-sharing scheme, the government began accepting applications in May this year for a period of three years. The maximum amount of private land involved in approved applications is 150 hectares, and the maximum amount of private land involved in approved applications is 150 hectares. The government's goal is to receive Within 4 to 6 and a half years from the application, the farmland will be converted into cultivated land for housing construction.

Land sharing:

about 30 inquiries have

not been received 

"Hong Kong 01" consulted the Development Bureau about the progress of relevant policies.

The Development Bureau replied that the Government has always invoked the Land Resumption Ordinance to recover private land for development, and will continue to plan to recover private land for different development projects, including public housing and new development areas.

The first phase of the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North New Development Area development plan (a total of 68 hectares of private land has been returned to the government at the end of December 2019, and the demolition work is in progress), land resumption has begun The first phase of the Hung Shui Bridge/Xia Village New Development Area development plan (a total of 12 hectares of private land will be returned to the government in October 2020) and other large-scale projects that will be launched one after another. It is estimated that these projects will recover a total of about 700 Hectares of private land.

The bureau mentioned that the government is reviewing whether private land that has been planned for high-density housing development without a definite development plan is suitable for public housing development, and will announce the results in due course; as for the three private lands in urban squatter areas , The government’s goal is to complete the relevant research in 2021, and strive for the relevant development projects to start around 2025.

Regarding the pilot land sharing plan, the Development Bureau stated that although the land sharing office (office) has not received a formal application so far, it has received about 30 enquiries.

The inquirers included some private land owners, developers or their representatives.

The content of the inquiry mainly hopes to have a deeper understanding of the details of the pilot plan and whether individual locations are eligible for application; it also involves land of different types, regions and developers.

The Development Bureau emphasizes that the formal application for the pilot project must be accompanied by a detailed development plan, including project design, technical evaluation, project cost estimation, and land ownership certificate. Taking into account that interested parties need time to prepare the application, it is estimated It may take a while to receive the formal application.

▼The result of the land debate ▼

+4

+4

+4

2. Resumption of the Fanling Golf Course (partially)-land resumption has to wait another 3 years

One of the core controversies in the land debate is whether the Fanling Golf Course, which covers an area of ​​more than 170 hectares and belongs to the government's "private playground land leased land", can be recovered for development.

The final report of the Land Supply Group recommended that the government only reclaim 32 hectares of land east of Fan Kam Road.

The government announced the adoption of relevant recommendations in February last year, but it will take three years of "special transitional arrangements" before the land will be officially reclaimed in 2023, and construction of houses will begin the following year, and it will not be possible to move in until 2028 or 2029 at the earliest.

The Development Bureau responded to the "Hong Kong 01" enquiry, stating that as announced last year, the government will enter into a three-year special transitional arrangement for the 32-hectare site after its existing lease expires in August 2020, until August 2023. end.

The 32 hectares of land will return to the government in September 2023.

In order to follow up the public housing development proposal, the government launched a technical study in September last year. The progress is satisfactory and it is expected to be completed in early 2021 as originally planned.

In accordance with the results of various studies and the progress of the required procedures, the Government will strive to start the land formation project as soon as possible after the return of the land to the Government to support the future development of public housing.

3. Brownfield development-too few accusations

The Land Supply Group proposes to expedite the development of brownfields, involving about 340 hectares of land under development in the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North New Development Area, Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area and Yuen Long South. The remaining areas have not been included in the current or The 760 hectares of brownfields in the proposed new development area are proposed to be accepted by the government.

Of course, how to deal with the existing umber operations is also an important technical issue.

The Planning Department's "Study on the Use and Operation of Brownfields in the New Territories" was released at the end of 2019. There are 7,373 brownfields in operation in Hong Kong, covering an area of ​​approximately 1,414 hectares.

The government has initially determined eight groups of land suitable for the construction of public housing. Five of them are located in Yuen Long, two in Tuen Mun and one in Tai Po, involving a total of 63 hectares of land, of which about 36 hectares are brownfields.

However, there are also groups who questioned the development of over 1,000 hectares of brownfields, and the 36 hectare proposal is too small.

Chen Jianqing, a member of the Local Research Institute, pointed out that the government considers brownfield clusters with an area of ​​more than 2 hectares, ignoring the possibility of small brownfield development and lacks a comprehensive land development plan in the New Territories.

In response to enquiries from the Development Bureau, the Civil Engineering and Development Department has so far carried out engineering feasibility studies on 7 groups of brownfield clusters, and the remaining group is also in the tender stage.

After the relevant studies have been completed in the fourth quarter of next year and the feasibility of the proposed public housing development projects have been determined, the government will initiate the rezoning, gazettal and land resumption work in accordance with established procedures.

While rezoning, the Land Development Department will carry out site leveling and infrastructure design, reducing the time from "raw land" to "prepared land" (that can be delivered for housing) from 8 years to about 6 years, and strive to reduce some The time for completion of the unit has been compressed to approximately 10 years from the engineering feasibility study to increase short- and medium-term supply.

Regarding the relocation of brownfield operations, the Development Bureau stated that the government commissioned a consultant to conduct a market intention survey in May this year to detect the market’s involvement in the construction and operation of multi-storey buildings in brownfield operations under different circumstances and involving different contract requirements and tender terms. Development and investment intentions.

The investigation report is expected to be completed early next year.

4. Reclamation, Lantau Tomorrow-slowly advancing

Reclamation in the report of the Land Supply Group is a medium- and long-term land option.

After the government reviewed the report, four reclamation research projects will continue to be carried out, including the nearshore reclamation at Lung Kwu Tan, Sunny Bay, Siu Ho Wan in Tuen Mun, and an artificial island in the central waters (that is, Lantau tomorrow).

One of the most controversial of tomorrow, Lantau, the government submitted to the Legislative Council this year the preliminary research funding of the relevant plan, which could not be completed during this session of the Legislative Council.

However, due to the postponement of the Legislative Council for one year, the funding proposal will then have a chance to "regenerate" and the Finance Committee can continue to review the unfinished funding.

From the reactions of the major establishment political parties, we can see that it is almost imperative to continue to push Lantau tomorrow.

The Development Bureau replied that the above reclamation plan is to take into account the needs of Hong Kong’s sustainable development and the public benefits brought by these proposals, including increasing the supply of public housing, alleviating traffic congestion, creating job opportunities, and other social benefits. Effective land use, etc.

The government will continue to strive to carry out relevant research as soon as possible.

Tomorrow's Lantau is the most controversial one among the current land options.

(Profile picture)

(2) Housing

In contrast to the numerous constraints imposed by the land policy, Carrie Lam has made many changes to the housing policy after he took office. For example, in the 2018 policy address, the ratio of new land to housing was changed to 73%, that is, 70% of public housing and 30% of private housing.

1. Add transitional houses-two-thirds of the land has been found, but only...

"Transitional housing" has been gradually declining in Hong Kong's housing policy. However, due to the serious housing problem and the rising average waiting time for public housing, the Lam Cheng government reiterated transitional housing projects, as well as social welfare organizations, developers, etc. Cooperation to transform idle land into transitional housing for citizens in need (such as waiting for public housing for more than 3 years, living in poor housing, etc.).

Among them, the Nanchang Street project, the first "Combined Social Housing Project" of the Social Council, obtained the "Occupation Permit" in July this year, and residents have moved in one after another from the end of August.

In last year’s policy address, Lam Cheng mentioned that there will be a substantial increase in transitional housing projects. A total of 10,000 units will be provided in the next three years. In January this year, it will be increased to 15,000. The main service is for families waiting for public rental housing and other residents. People with poor environment.

In other words, the current government intends to vigorously promote transitional housing and first alleviate the housing problem at the grassroots level in the short term.

One year has passed since last year's policy address, that is, one third of the promised time has passed.

The Transport and Housing Bureau replied to enquiries that as of the end of August 2020, 1,085 transitional housing units have been completed (945 for residential building conversion, 51 for non-residential building conversion and 89 for new residential buildings), that is, only the target About 7.23% of the unit.

However, the Transport and Housing Bureau added that a series of transitional housing projects are currently undergoing or in-depth study, involving 10,353 transitional housing units (reconstruction of residential buildings accounted for 91, conversion of non-residential buildings accounted for 38, and new residential buildings accounted for 10,224) , Together with the completed units, a total of 11,438 transitional housing units can be provided.

In short, three-quarters of the target units have been found or built, but only about 1,000 units have been completed. The government needs to work harder in the next two years.

2. Cash subsidy for non-public housing tenants-implemented

The policy address mentioned that it will study the use of cash subsidies to provide support to non-public housing and non-CSSA low-income households, including those on the waiting list for public housing.

Before the completion of the study, the government invited the Community Care Fund to provide subsidies to these citizens.

The government later announced in January this year that it would provide cash allowances to non-public housing and non-CSSA low-income households on a trial basis. The cash allowance will be paid to general households who have been waiting for public housing for more than three years and have not received CSSA. The expenditure is about 2.82 billion yuan, which is expected in the second half of next year. For families who have not applied for public housing, or have been waiting for public housing for less than three years, and are not receiving CSSA but are low-income families, the government will provide more relaxed household income in the form of WFA The interest ceiling level allows them to receive a higher amount of WFA.

Lam Cheng proposed a vacancy tax on first-hand buildings in June 2018. However, the business community was opposed to it, and due to factors such as internal delays, the committee announced the termination of the review earlier.

(Profile picture)

3. Vacancy tax-into chaos

The six major housing policy changes announced by Lam Cheng at the end of June 2018, the most innovative is the "vacancy tax" that has been debated for many years in society.

The government proposes to charge additional rates in the form of additional rates to first-hand residential units that have been issued with "occupation permits" for 12 months, so as to encourage developers to launch new buildings on the market as soon as possible to speed up the supply of buildings.

The Transport and Housing Bureau submitted the Rating (Amendment) Bill 2019 to the Legislative Council last year, but the process encountered a lot of obstacles.

First, the business sector itself has reservations about the levy of additional rates. Legislative council members of the Liberal Party and the Pakatan Harapan have spoken out about the effectiveness of the policy; second, the House Committee of the Legislative Council has been caught up in the delay due to the delay of the democrats since October last year Stagnation, the Bills Committee was not formally established until May this year.

Due to the controversy of the regulations themselves, many members stated that they would propose amendments early in the morning. At the June 23 meeting, the Bills Committee announced that due to lack of time and incomplete information submitted by the authorities, the review of relevant bills would be stopped, which means the entire process. We must overthrow and start over.

Since the original opposition from the business community has not been eliminated, it is still unknown whether the Ordinance will be re-submitted to the Legislative Council for deliberation after the Legislative Council is postponed.

The source pointed out that due to the overwhelming voice of opposition, even the establishment may not be able to pass the hurdle, and the government has little chance of pushing it again in the coming year.

It can be said that the entire policy has entered a "state of chaos," and the prospects are unclear.

The Transport and Housing Bureau replied to enquiries that in the two meetings of the Bills Committee on the Rating (Amendment) Bill 2019 (the Bill), members expressed many different opinions on the proposal to impose additional rates .

The Government will give appropriate consideration to the Bill in the light of the opinions and circumstances of the community.

4. Subdivided rent management-group representativeness is questionable

At present, at least 200,000 people in Hong Kong live in sub-units (subdivided houses). The living environment is poor, and they are faced with problems such as imposing luxury prices per square foot, overcharging utility bills, and increasing rents due to the epidemic.

Among the ten livelihood policies announced by the government in January this year, one is to study the implementation of subdivided rent control.

The Transport and Housing Bureau established a "Subdivided Housing" Rent Control Research Working Group in April this year, with a term of 18 months.

The group reported on its work progress in August this year. Chairman Leung Wing-hsiang said that he was aware that the living conditions of sub-divided households were not satisfactory and that some owners had overcharged utility bills. However, he emphasized that the group had no law enforcement power and was only responsible for research work.

He pointed out that a report will be submitted in the first half of next year.

However, the members of the group are mainly academics and professionals, and they are accused of lack of representatives from the grassroots or related social welfare organizations, which cannot truly reflect the plight of grassroots people.

Even if the group met with residents of subdivided houses from time to time, there was no grassroots voice in their daily work, and representativeness was doubtful.

In addition, Liang Yongxiang’s problems with the living environment of subdivided households and overcharging of utility bills can be learned as long as you pay attention to the news. The situation is obvious and can be known without additional research.

If the team only learns the symptoms of these problems after 4 months of work, the progress will inevitably be disappointing.

The Transport and Housing Bureau responded that the work plan of the working group can be roughly divided into three phases. The first phase of the working group will conduct on-site visits and interviews with different interest groups to gain insight into the actual situation of the "subdivided housing"; the second phase will be held for the public The forum is to listen to opinions; the third stage will analyze, synthesize and summarize the feasibility and feasible solutions of "subsidiary housing" rent control, and write a final report to the government.

According to the Transport and Housing Bureau, the team visited "subdivided housing" tenants in multiple districts from June to September to directly understand the difficulties faced by tenants. In August, it also met with a total of 37 concerned groups online to communicate.

The group will hold a public forum in October to gather opinions from different people in the community. All those who are concerned about the study of "subdivided housing" rent control are welcome to participate.

▼HOS 2020▼

+30

+30

+30

5. Re-introduction of rental housing-continue to promote the commercialization of public housing

In view of the excessively high prices of private properties and the shortage of subsidized-sale houses, there has been a voice in the community in recent years, demanding that the government re-launch the Tenants Purchase Scheme in the late 1990s, allowing public housing tenants to buy their units at a larger discount rate .

Politically, renting can also allow more citizens to enjoy the appreciation of the property market, and everyone will be happy to become a "property class" and alleviate some grievances in society.

It's just that after the implementation of the tenancy plan that year, management problems under mixed ownership have arisen, so the government has been reluctant to relaunch related plans.

In the end, the government adopted a conciliatory approach. In his policy address last year, Lam Cheng announced that it would speed up the sale of the remaining units of the Tenants Purchase Scheme, that is, no more new rental housing estates will be introduced, and only the 39 housing estates that have implemented the plan will be sold. .

Since March this year, the Housing Department has frozen the recovery of rental units in rental housing estates. At the end of this year, it will launch the sale of 441 recovered units in related housing estates, together with the next phase of the Green Home Project. Eligible to apply, the price can be as low as 15% off the market price.

However, one of the criticisms of the TPS is the use of public housing resources as an investment tool to encourage property speculation. In particular, the general waiting time for public housing applications has reached 5.5 years, and further public housing sales will certainly aggravate the shortage of public housing. problem.

Moreover, there is a deeper problem: the housing problems of the current public housing tenants are relatively small. Allowing them to buy the rental units at a low price is at best icing on the cake, and it also provides an extra policy for the rich to escape. "That's it.

The real source of grievances in society is the grassroots people who have been waiting for public housing for many years and have not been able to get upstairs, as well as young people who cannot apply for public housing, cannot obtain HOS housing, and cannot afford private housing.

What kind of social stabilization effects can be brought about by pushing rental housing again?

6. The price of HOS flats-the total amount is still insufficient

Among the six new housing policies announced by Lam Cheng at the end of June 2018, the biggest highlight is the change in the pricing mechanism of HOS housing.

In the past, HOS flats were sold at a 30% discount from the market price, but the price of the property is getting higher and higher, and the price is also rising.

At that time, Lam Cheng decided to change the price standard of HOS flats from being linked to the private housing market to being based on the applicant's affordability; in addition, it was ensured that the number of affordable units increased from at least 50% to at least 75%.

Take the latest phase of HOS flats in 2020 as an example, the price is 40% off the market price.

This policy responds to the concern of the outside world about "even the price of HOS flats per square foot" when the HOS was first launched in 2018. The original intention is worthy of recognition.

However, the biggest problem with subsidized-sale housing in Hong Kong is the insufficient total amount.

The number of new HOS flats launched in this phase reached 7,037, the most since the rebuilding of HOS flats.

It's just that it's hard to find a house in recent years. Compared with the number of applications, it is only a drop in the bucket.

The Housing Authority responded to enquiries and pointed out that as of 5 pm on October 6, it had received a total of about 168,000 online HOS applications and 24,000 paper application forms, which means a total of at least 192,000 applications (applications will be Deadline at 7 pm on the 7th).

According to the statistics on the website of the Transport and Housing Bureau, the estimated housing production of the Housing Authority and the Housing Association's subsidized sale units in the next five years will be only about 30,000.

A large number of shell-less snails who intend to apply, especially white-form applicants, believe that they will continue to face the difficult situation of fighting for their heads and winning the lottery.

In Carrie Lam's 2019 policy address, the biggest move in housing policy was to relax the property mortgage.

(Profile picture)

7. Loosen the floor press-push people on/off the car?

Regarding residential properties in the private market, the biggest "surgery" of the Lam Cheng government so far was the announcement in last year’s policy address to relax the property price ceiling of the mortgage insurance company provided by the Mortgage Corporation. First time home buyers apply for a mortgage loan of up to 90% of the property price ceiling. The 4 million yuan raised to 8 million yuan, and the upper limit of the property price that can apply for a mortgage of up to 80% was raised from 6 million yuan to 10 million yuan.

In short, the government will directly change the definition of listings from 4 million to 8 million.

With reference to the figures of the Mortgage Corporation, the number of mortgages approved in the first eight months of this year reached 30,572, 1.5 times more than the 12,204 in the same period last year; as for the amount, the total amount of mortgages approved in the first eight months of this year was 163.562 billion yuan, compared with last year. The 48.529 billion yuan in the same period rose 3.37 times.

The above figures mean that the relaxation of property prices will have a certain stimulus effect on the property market and will significantly increase buyers' desire to enter the market.

The original intention of this policy is to relax the mortgage ratio so that more people who are on the margin of affordability and who are more difficult to afford the down payment can board the car.

However, this move also increases the financial risks associated with the burst of the property market bubble, and will also cause more citizens to be "tied to death" on mortgage payments.

With reference to the HKMA's figures, as of the end of the second quarter of 2020, the number of negative equity residential mortgage loans totaled 127. Although this is down from 384 at the end of the first quarter of 2020, the local economy has been dragged down by the epidemic. , The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from June to August this year is 6.1%; the Central Plains City Leading Index, which reflects the trend of property prices, has fallen from last year’s high of 190.48 to the latest 176.76 (as of September 7 to September 13, 2020 Figures), reflecting that the property market is still in a period of floating.

For buyers who are ready to enter the market, the potential risks have to be investigated.

8. Reconstruction of the Housing Authority Industrial Building-the study will be completed by the end of this year

Last year’s policy address also mentioned that the Housing Authority will be invited to study the reconstruction of its factory buildings (there are currently 6 buildings with a total indoor floor area of ​​approximately 202,000 square meters) into public housing, especially to increase the supply of public rental housing.

According to the Secretary for Transportation and Housing, Chen Fan, in response to questions from the Legislative Council in May this year, the Housing Authority expects to complete relevant studies by the end of 2020, and will announce the results of the study and the number of units that can be built in due course.

Policy address 〡The New Democratic Party proposes to raise the gaming tax Ye Liu: Has reservations about Lantau tomorrow

Policy Address|The Federation of Trade Unions proposes to send 8,000 yuan consumer coupons to push the upper limit of 9,000 yuan unemployment cash allowance

Policy address: Xu Yingwei becomes a rugby coach, "head shot" filming to answer questions from netizens 

Policy Address|Tian Beichen Advocates the Government to Reform the Tax System to Lower the 2000 Yuan Medical Voucher Threshold to 60

01News

Policy Address Debate on Land Resumption Ordinance Land Sharing Pilot Project Land Issue Transition Housing Subsidized Housing Housing Policy HOS 2020 HOS Public Housing 01 Policy Analysis

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2020-10-06

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-23T06:14:26.750Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.