Hong Kong can adjust housing ratio when wait time for public flats improves: minister

Hong Kong will have room to adjust the public-private housing ratio once authorities have managed to bring down the waiting time for government rental flats in the next few years, the development minister has said.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said on Sunday that the current 70-30 public-private flat ratio was decided at a time when authorities were focused on boosting the public housing supply, with scope for adjustment once levels had exceeded the government’s goal in the coming decade.

“We are looking into different scenarios for housing ratios in some of the new development zones, such as the San Tin Technopole,” Linn told a television show on Sunday, referring to a government plan to build an innovation and technology (I&T) hub near the border with mainland China.

The minister said authorities would look at the possibility of adopting a 50-50 split in some areas that fell under the Northern Metropolis mega project, such as Tsim Bei Tsui, as the current 70-30 policy could be unsuitable for sites set aside for I&T purposes that were expected to draw talent.

The Housing Authority said in May that the average waiting time for a public rental flat had dropped slightly to 5.7 years, compared with the 5.8 years recorded in the previous quarter.

Hong Kong’s main supplier of public housing had also voiced confidence that supply levels would log an “obvious increase” from next year.

The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong earlier this month urged the government to lower the public-private housing ratio for the 600 hectare (1,482 acres) San Tin Technopole, so that half of the site’s living spaces went to private developers.

A view of the site for the proposed San Tin Technopole. Photo: Eugene Lee

The association also argued that more private housing was necessary to support talent coming to work in the proposed innovation hub.

Linn on Sunday also discussed the sale of the only residential plot up for grabs in the second quarter, saying it fetched a price that met market expectations.

The 26,100 sq ft (2,425 square metres) site at Yuen Shun Circuit in Siu Lek Yuen was sold last week for HK$619 million (US$79.29 million), or HK$3,952 per square foot.

Linn said the fact that the bidders had included local and mainland Chinese developers was also a positive signal for the market.