The Government announced today (September 28) the quarterly land sale programme for the third quarter of 2016-17, i.e. October to December 2016.

     "The private housing land supply in the third quarter of 2016-17, which comes from government land sales and railway property development projects, is estimated to have a capacity to produce about 4,600 flats in total," the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, said.

     In the third quarter of 2016-17, the Government will sell by tender five residential sites, which have a total capacity to produce about 2,800 flats. Among the five residential sites, two are located in Tai Po (about 660 flats in total) and three in Kai Tak (about 2,140 flats in total).

     The MTR Corporation Limited is planning to tender the first packages of the two property development projects at Ho Man Tin Station (about 1,000 flats) and Wong Chuk Hang Station (about 800 flats), with an estimated capacity to provide about 1,800 flats. The tender dates depend on such factors as market conditions and the commissioning of the relevant railway lines.

     Mr Chan reviewed the private housing land supply situation in the first three quarters of 2016-17. In the first and second quarters, the Government put up 14 residential sites for sale, with the capacity to provide about 9,440 flats. During the same period, there were two other sources of private housing land supply:

(a) The Urban Renewal Authority awarded the tender for a joint venture development of the Pine Street/Oak Street project in Tai Kok Tsui in June 2016, and is tendering another project at Kowloon Road/Kiu Yam Street in Sham Shui Po. The two projects are estimated to provide about 195 flats; and

(b) As of August 2016, private development or redevelopment projects could provide a total of about 1,440 flats.

     Combining all of the above, it is estimated that private housing land supply in the first half of 2016-17 had a total capacity to produce about 11,100 flats. Together with the estimated flat production capacity of about 4,600 flats from the five government sale sites and the two railway property development projects in the third quarter mentioned above, the private housing land supply in the first three quarters of 2016-17 is estimated to have a total capacity to provide around 15,700 flats, which is about 87 per cent of the 2016-17 private housing land supply target of 18,000 flats. In view of this, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Government is confident in meeting the supply target in 2016-17.

     In addition, the Government will put up for sale a business site in Cheung Sha Wan, capable of providing about 92,700 square metres of commercial floor area. Combined with the other four commercial/business/industrial sites announced for sale in the previous two quarters, the five sites in the first three quarters of 2016-17 are estimated to provide about 268,000 sq m of floor area for commercial and industrial uses. This is conducive to addressing the market demand for such floor space and promoting the economic development of Hong Kong. The supply of such floor space in the first three quarters of 2016-17 is higher than the total supply of the past two financial years, and also higher than that in any of the past four financial years.

     In line with past practice, the Government may, subject to market conditions as well as the progress of rezoning and other work, put up additional sites for sale within the third quarter of 2016-17.

     "We will closely monitor the market situation and spare no effort in identifying additional suitable sites for development. The objective is to provide a steady, sustained land supply to the market to cater for the community's demand for private housing, commercial and business sites," Mr Chan said.

     The list of the sites to be tendered in October to December 2016 is attached. The Lands Department will separately announce the detailed land sale arrangements before individual sites are tendered.

Ends/Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:22

NNNN