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Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (June 23):
Question:
The Government has indicated earlier that it would increase the supply of land and residential units. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as at 31 May 2010:
(i) of the number of unsold private residential units of completed buildings, and list, according to the lot number of such buildings, the names of the buildings, their respective years of completion and the total number of units; among the unsold units, the respective numbers of those which have and have not been offered for sale, when the latter is expected to be offered for sale and whether a deadline has been set for offering them for sale;
(ii) of the number of private residential units under construction but not yet sold by way of pre-sale, and list, according to lot number, the total number of residential units in that lot; among the units not yet sold by way of pre-sale, the respective numbers of those which have and have not been offered for pre-sale, when the latter is expected to be offered for pre-sale, the number of units for which pre-sale consents have been granted and whether a deadline has been set for offering them for pre-sale (with a note to indicate those residential units of private residential redevelopment projects for which lease modifications are not required);
(iii) of the number of residential projects at granted sites for which construction has yet to commence (commonly known as "disposed sites"), and list, according to lot number, the areas of the sites, their gross floor areas, expected numbers of completed residential units, and the expected earliest dates for commencement and completion of works;
(iv) of the number of residential sites which can potentially be supplied (commonly known as "potential sites"), and list, according to lot number, the areas of the sites, their expected gross floor areas, expected numbers of residential units, and the expected earliest dates for granting the sites; and
(v) of the number of private residential redevelopment projects for which lease modifications are not required but construction has yet to commence, and list, according to lot number, the areas of the sites, their expected gross floor areas, expected numbers of residential units, and the expected earliest dates for commencement and completion of works;
(b) of the respective numbers of private residential projects under construction and the number of units involved in the current and the next four years; of the respective numbers of "potential sites" for developing private residential projects and private residential redevelopment projects not requiring lease modifications that can be granted during the same period, and their gross floor areas and numbers of residential units to be provided; and
(c) of the number of sites resumed by the Government from the Housing Authority in the past five years, and list, according to lot number, the areas of the sites, their expected gross floor areas, expected land uses (in the case of residential use, of the expected numbers of completed units), and the expected earliest dates for granting the sites?
Reply:
President,
The Government has readily available statistics relating to the supply of private residential units, including the total number of completed but unsold units, the total number of units under construction but not yet sold, the total number of flats to be generated from disposed sites for which construction has yet to start, the estimated number of units to be generated from potential sites for private residential sites, and the overall supply of private residential units in the primary market in the next three to four years. However, the Government does not have readily available information on individual sites and individual projects, such as their lot numbers, the gross floor areas of residential units to be built, and the names of buildings. As for the information requested by Member, having coordinated the input from the Development Bureau and this Bureau, my reply is set out below.
(1) (i) As at May 31, 2010, there were about 7,000 unsold units in completed private residential developments. The distribution of these units in terms of year of completion is at Table 1. When these units are put up for sale is in accordance with the developers' commercial decisions. The Government is not able to predict when the units will be put up for sale in the market.
Table 1ĄGUnsold units in completed private residential developments
Year of Completion No. of unsold units in completed
private residential developments
Before 2008(Note 1) 3,000
2008 1,000
2009 2,000
2010(Note 2) 1,000
Total 7,000
Notes:
(1) Developments completed between 2003 and end of 2007
(2) As at May 2010
(ii) As at May 31, 2010, about 46,000 private residential units were under construction. About 6,000 of them were sold by pre-sale. Therefore, there were about 40,000 units which were under construction and not yet sold. Of the 40,000 units, about 1,900 of them had obtained pre-sale consent and another 1,200 units belonged to private redevelopment projects which did not require lease modification. These 3,100 units can be put up for sale in the market anytime in accordance with the developers' commercial decisions. Regarding the remaining 36,900 units, about 6,700 units were applying for pre-sale consent, and the remaining 30,200 units have yet to apply for pre-sale consent.
(iii) As at May 31, 2010, there were 21 projects on disposed sites which had yet to start construction, involving about 12,000 units. The Government will impose a Building Covenant date in the land leases to govern the completion date of the project, but will not set requirements on the date for commencing construction. The timing for these projects to commence construction works will depend on whether site formation is required and when their building plan(s) are approved.
(iv) As regards the number of potential supply of private residential sites, since the Government may integrate or split those sites depending on the situation, the Government will only provide the total gross floor areas of those sites as reference to avoid confusion. As at May 31, 2010, there are approximately close to 268 hectares of potential supply of private residential sites, which are estimated to produce about 105,700 flats upon completion. The disposal dates of individual sites vary according to circumstances. Some of the sites on the List of Sites for Sale by Application (the Application List) are readily available for triggering, whereas the disposal of some development projects will depend on the time required for the relevant development approval process.
The above figures only denote the possible maximum supply of private residential sites known at the present stage. They have not included sites where planning permission has been obtained but the leases have yet to be executed. Also, the figures have not included sites where their completion dates are undetermined, for example long term supply of private residential sites the availability of which is still subject to planning and engineering studies or confirmation of land use. As the exact supply is subject to actual market demand and other factors such as progress of land formation/land premium agreement/land exchange, we are not able to provide further breakdown.
(v) As private redevelopment projects which do not require lease modifications do not have to apply to the Lands Department (LandsD) for lease modifications, LandsD does not have information on the potential number of private redevelopment projects which do not require lease modifications and have not started construction. The number of units to be generated from private redevelopment projects which do not require lease modifications and are under construction has already been reflected in the overall figures on the total number of private residential units under construction. As mentioned in (ii) above, as at May 31, 2010, there were about 40,000 private residential units which were under construction and not yet sold. This figure has already included 3,200 units from commenced private residential redevelopment projects for which lease modifications are not required.
(2) The Government is not in a position to predict the progress of the construction works in the primary private residential market in the next three to four years. That said, the Government carries out estimation on the overall supply in the primary private residential market on a regular basis, taking into account the number of completed unsold flats, the number of flats under construction and not yet sold, and the number of units to be generated from disposed sites where construction has not yet started. According to Government's estimation as at May 2010, there will be about 59,000 units available in the primary private residential market in the coming three to four years, comprising 7,000 unsold completed units, 40,000 units under construction and not yet sold, and 12,000 units from projects on "disposed sites" which construction works may start anytime.
(3) In the past five years, the Housing Authority has surrendered the following public rental housing (PRH) redevelopment sites to the Government (Table 2):
Table 2: PRH redevelopment sites surrendered to the Government by the Housing Authority (from 2005/06 to 2009/10)
Year PRH Site Area Land Use
Redevelopment (hectare) after surrender
Sites
2005/06 - - -
2006/07 Shek Lei 1.4 District open space
Phase 11
Sau Mau Ping 0.8 School
Phase 11
Kwai Chung 0.4 District open space
Phase 3 (part)
2007/08 - - -
2008/09 Kwai Chung 0.9 District open space
Phase 2A
Tai Hang Tung 0.4 District open space
Phase R1
Shek Kip Mei 0.5 School (under
Phase 4 construction)
2009/10 Sau Mau Ping 2 District open space
Phase 12
Lam Tin 0.4 Lam Tin North
Phase 9 Municipal Services
Building (under
construction)
North Point 3.8 The Western part of
Estate the Ex-North Point
Estate site is for
"hotel use only"
development which
is already included
in the Application
List.
The Government has
already initiated
the rezoning process
of the Eastern pary
of the Ex-North
Point Estate site
to turn it into a
Comprehensive
Development Area.
Ends/Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:50
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