The Secretary for Development, Ning Hanhao, said on Sunday (23rd) that there will be 3,280 hectares of "prepared land" in supply in the next ten years. Government land alone will oversupply 72,000 private housing units in the next five years. It is not necessary for developers to fill in the figure. Therefore, the government has "retaken the dominance of land supply".
Chen Jianqing, a member of the Local Research Society, questioned that the government has no specific land resumption plan, and that many current land policies are influenced by the power of developers.
According to the 2021 annual and interim reports of developers and data from JPMorgan Chase, the agricultural land reserves held by major real estate developers are nearly 108.5 million square feet, or 1,007 hectares or 10 square kilometers, which is equivalent to nearly 80% of the current residential land in Hong Kong. Divided by one, it is slightly larger than the Wong Tai Sin District (9.3 square kilometers), or equivalent to the reclamation area of the Kau Yi Chau artificial island in the government's "Lantau Tomorrow" plan.
▼On October 19, Chief Executive Li Jiachao's first policy address lazy bag▼
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Land bank of real estate developers (as of June 30, 2021)
Real estate developer holds 1,007 hectares of agricultural land in the New Territories
In October last year, "Hong Kong 01" calculated the land reserves of the four major real estate developers and other developers as of June 30 last year based on the developers' annual and interim reports and data from JPMorgan Chase.
Among them, the area of agricultural land in the New Territories held by Henderson reached 44.6 million square feet, which was increased to 45.1 million square feet according to the 2022 interim report, an increase of 500,000 square feet.
Sun Hung Kai Properties has a reserve of 31 million square feet of agricultural land in the New Territories, second only to Henderson; the third is New World Development, which holds a total of about 16.37 million square feet of agricultural land to be changed in the New Territories, more than Cheung Kong, which has 10 million square feet out about sixty percent.
Together with other developers holding agricultural land, the total amount is 108.47 million square feet, which translates to 1,007 hectares or 10 square kilometers.
Land bank of real estate developers (as of June 30, 2021)
The government land available for building private buildings in the next 5 years has reached the standard: regaining dominance
In the first policy address released by the current-term government last Wednesday (19th), more than 3,000 hectares of mature land have been found in the next ten years.
Ning Hanhao, director of the Development Bureau, said on Sunday that the supply of mature land in the next 10 years will reach 3,280 hectares, which is the KPI of his team. For some people who say that the supply of mature land in the next 10 years will be light and heavy, Ning Hanhao said that the supply of private housing in the first five years alone There are more than 65,000 now.
Ning Hanhao said, "We usually supply private housing, and we have to consider the land production of private developers. This time, I will tell everyone to listen to me, don't rely on it (real estate developers), we have achieved 72,000 (units) , more than 65,000 (index). I think that information is important, and everyone has confidence, it means that we have regained dominance.”
Chen Jianqing, a local research agency, pointed out that the government's current development strategy "doesn't take into account the developers' land reserves", and there are no specific measures to take back the farmland hoarded by developers.
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Chen Jianqing: The government's development strategy "doesn't allow for developers and land reserves"
Chen Jianqing, a member of the local research society, believes that the government's current development strategy "doesn't take into account developers and land reserves", and there are no specific measures to take back the farmland hoarded by developers. What's more, the current Fangcang shelter hospitals and transitional housing, etc. "It depends on the developer to sell it, and (the government) is not willing to take the initiative to expropriate it."
He went on to point out that even many land policy proposals in the policy address, such as relaxing the threshold for redevelopment and the arrangement of land premiums for agricultural land in the New Territories, were put forward by developers.
He believes that land policies are affected by the power of developers, and future development strategies also need to rely on developers to solve housing problems. He questioned Ning's claim to regain the dominance of land supply today, "Will the future land supply be dominated by Mi really? … .There is a bit of self-deception."
▼The policy address on October 19 proposed the construction of "simple public housing" in the way of imitating social housing▼
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The previous government proposed a "first-hand vacancy tax" to prompt developers to speed up the supply of first-hand private residential units, but it was not implemented in the end.
Chen pointed out that there are 16,000 newly built units in Hong Kong that are all vacant. "This is an important housing resource, but developers can control the supply of housing and land by hoarding buildings. This policy (first-hand vacancy tax) is based on the government's I don’t even dare to mention it.”
Use Shangfang Sword to reclaim 158 billion yuan of land and return it to the developer's farmland reserve
Some of the 3,280 hectares of cultivated land referred to by the Development Bureau are artificial islands in Kau Yi Chau that have not yet been reclaimed, so there are variables.
The current mechanism allows the government to invoke the Land Resumption Ordinance, the "sword of good fortune", for land resumption for development purposes, including new development areas and other development purposes (including ancillary uses) such as residential or economic development, or beyond the purpose of improving rural areas. public facilities provided.
The latest ex-gratia compensation rate for repossession of agricultural land is $1,457 per square foot. It is estimated that if the 108.47 million square feet of land is reclaimed, it will involve about $158 billion. As a result, the government has the discretion to plan the development plan and does not need to wait for the cooperation of the agricultural landholders.
Policy Address｜Ning Hanhao pointed out that there is room for improvement in the government's resumption of land ownership Lands Department: Tendering and leasing 3 parcels of land in the New Territories to help brownfield operators relocate their business Policy Address｜A huge land bank is needed to regain dominance : A multi-pronged approach to respond quickly to the supply of land and housing is worthy of support. Policy Address | Review of Policy Rumors