The government has finalized eight sites for the construction of "simple public housing". After the completion of 30,000 units, it is expected to live in needy citizens for five years.
Among them, the Kai Tak World Fortune Road project, which accounts for more than 10,000 units, has attracted strong opposition from local residents.
Kowloon Central Legislative Council member Yang Yongjie once applied to hold a rally and demonstration. Kowloon City Kai Tak Central and Southern District Member Zhang Jingxun criticized the authorities for not conducting sufficient consultations. Owners of adjacent buildings publicly expressed concern on radio programs that "simple public housing" would drag down property prices .
Leung Chi Kin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Developers Association, said that the government has a need for housing construction, and the Chamber of Commerce "could not disagree." However, he still expressed concern about the development direction of the land in five years.
If the funding is successfully approved, the Kai Tak project can start construction in the first quarter of 2024 at the earliest and be completed in two phases in the first and fourth quarters of 2026.
The construction of Yau Pok Road in Yuen Long, Area 3A in Tuen Mun, and Choi Hing Road in Ngau Tau Kok is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year. Together with the other five sites that will start construction in the first to third quarters of next year, the "simple public housing "Completion dates range from the first quarter of 2025 to the fourth quarter of 2026.
Leung Chi Kin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Developers Association, is concerned about the development direction of the Kai Tak site five years from now.
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The speed of construction is far faster than that of traditional public housing
On the whole, the construction speed of "simple public housing" is believed to be as the officials said earlier, it is much faster than the traditional public housing, which takes about four to five years on average, and the period from construction to completion of the project is as fast as two years , less than three years at most, ready-made flats can be quickly provided to waiting residents.
The reasons why the construction of "simple public housing" will be faster than traditional public housing in the past are nothing more than the following: First, "simple public housing" first widely used the "assembly and synthesis" construction method, while the traditional public housing in the past Second, the scale and design complexity of the "simple public housing" project is smaller than that of traditional public housing, for example, it has lower floors, fewer units, lower floors, and smaller rooms. Installation of kitchen exhaust fans and air conditioners, simplification of fence design, reduction of ecological source facilities, etc.; third, "simple public housing" avoids the supporting requirements of the planning guidelines for residential parking lots, welfare facilities, etc., which naturally further reduces the overall construction the time required.
What is the estimated construction cost of "simple public housing"?
The latest estimated cost of the design and construction project for "Simple Public Housing" is about $26 billion.
The average construction cost of low-rise "simple public housing" units has been reduced to 530,000 yuan, so the average subsidy amount of 550,000 yuan previously used to subsidize the construction of three- to four-storey "transitional housing" units on vacant land is low.
Although the average construction cost of a high-rise "simple public housing" building is 650,000 yuan, if calculated according to the cost per square meter, the high-rise "simple public housing" is about 20,500 yuan per square meter, and the low-rise "simple public housing" is about 20,500 yuan per square meter About 19,100 yuan, still lower than the 23,900 yuan per square meter of "transitional housing".
No need to follow normal planning procedures
According to the general planning procedure, since most of the sites selected for "simple public housing" do not have housing planning in the past, the authorities should submit an application for amending the plans in accordance with Article 12A of the "Town Planning Ordinance" to change the area where "simple public housing" is planned to allow Residential use.
Even though Kai Tak and Siu Lam include part of the "Comprehensive Development Area" site, an application for planning permission should be submitted in accordance with Section 16A of the Town Planning Ordinance to be approved for use as "strata residential" or "house".
However, when the previous government developed "transitional housing", the Town Planning Board agreed in November 2018 that the project could be regarded as a "frequently permitted temporary use" in the urban and new town outline zoning plans, and there was no need to go through the usual reform. planning application process.
There are several prerequisites for this decision. First, the demand for "transitional housing" will disappear due to the increase in housing supply in the future. Second, the government task force must ensure that it will not be converted into permanent use. The special waiver should state a fixed lease term of five years or less.
Only "transitional housing" projects in rural areas with a duration of less than three years still need permission from the Town Planning Board.
Since the authorities clearly stated that "simple public housing" is "learning from the experience of operating transitional housing" and is "short-term housing in nature", it is not difficult to predict that there is a high chance of referring to the precedent of "transitional housing" and being approved by the Town Planning Board in a similar The conditions are listed as "Often Permitted Temporary Uses".
Recently, the media has also quoted news that this is the idea of the authorities. If this news is true, the construction of "simple public housing" will not need to apply for revised plans or planning permission applications in accordance with the "Town Planning Ordinance", thus saving more time.
Transitional housing plays an important role in solving the housing problem. It is hoped that before there is a long-term housing supply, it can relieve the housing problem in a transitory form.
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Five years "temporary" can be changed to seven and a half years
The "Notes" of the Urban and New Town Outline Plans state that "regularly permitted temporary uses" cannot exceed five years, but planning guideline No. 34D "Renewal of planning permission for temporary use or development and extension of the period for fulfilling the conditions attached to the planning permission "stipulates that "if the relevant temporary use and development are to continue, the applicant may apply to the Town Planning Commission for the renewal of the temporary planning permission."
However, the cost of "simple public housing" itself is not much cheaper than that of traditional public housing, and it will waste resources if it is dismantled and demolished when it is used up in a short period of time.
Coupled with the lessons learned from the "transitional housing", many residents are still unable to go upstairs after the lease expires. Whether the "simple public housing" will be "sustainable" is of course worthy of attention.
When the City Planning Commission first approved the temporary use of "transitional housing", it has mentioned that "the application for extending the agreed lease period under this planning system will be evaluated according to the time of submission of the application. Transitional housing in permanent buildings Each lease period cannot exceed five years." There is no limit to the number of extensions, leaving the possibility of continuation in disguise. It is believed that "simple public housing" will follow this arrangement.
However, planning guideline No. 34D also stipulates that “if the total period for fulfilling the conditions attached (including the application for extending the period for fulfilling the conditions attached to the planning permission) exceeds half of the validity period of the temporary planning permission, the application for extension will generally not be approved.”
This not only shows that the existence period of "simple public housing" may change from five years to seven and a half years, but also means that if the authorities want to extend it beyond this period, they will have to submit it to the Town Planning Board to examine whether to make special treatment.
In any case, since the authorities are in the process of streamlining the development procedures and amending the regulations, and in the future, traditional public housing projects will gradually introduce the "assembly and synthesis" construction method, then the development of traditional public housing should also be able to be compressed like "simple public housing" in the future Considerable construction and planning period.
The special treatment thinking of "transitional housing" and "simple public housing" in the planning process can also review whether it can be partly transplanted to traditional public housing. For example, consider accepting public housing as the corresponding item in the second column of the "Notes" of the Outline The "regularly permitted" version allows some land to be converted to actual planning uses at a faster rate, further increasing the speed of projects from planning to completion.
Simple public housing｜Site selection and dismantling of suitable land may be available one after another. Simple public housing will cost a lot of money. To increase speed and efficiency, we must do our best. Simple public housing cannot be a copy of transitional housing. Simple public housing is only expedient.
