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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (June 5):
Question:
The Chief Executive mentioned in the 2013 Policy Address that "more than half of the private dwellings have a saleable area smaller than 50 square metres. Do we have the courage to make it our vision to improve the living space for the future generation?" A member of the Long Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee has reportedly pointed out recently that the average living space per person in Hong Kong should be increased. However, earlier on, a private developer planned to put up for sale "shoebox units" with an average area of merely 200-odd square feet, which runs counter to the aforesaid vision. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has kept track of the changes in the average living space per person in Hong Kong in the past decade; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the numbers of subsidized housing units of different saleable areas constructed/to be constructed in the past three years, this year and the next three years (set out in Table 1 attached);
(c) of the current number of undeveloped residential sites with a plot ratio of 1 or below in the New Territories; whether it will consider raising, as appropriate, the plot ratios of residential sites in the New Territories which are not located in the new development areas, in order to meet the housing demands; and
(d) whether the Government will draw up short, medium and long term plans in order to achieve the aforesaid vision?
Reply :
President,
The Government recognises that housing heads the list of livelihood issues that are of public concern. At the same time, it is a very complicated issue. Our main challenge for the housing policy is to address the housing needs of different groups in the community, given the constraints imposed upon us from the current tight land resources. Since the new term of Government took office, we have shown our clear determination to tackle the housing problem, which is the top priority for the Government. The Government has formulated the following clear policy objectives on housing: (a) to assist grass-roots families to secure housing through the provision of public rental housing (PRH) to meet their basic housing needs; (b) to assist the public to choose accommodation according to their affordability and personal circumstances, including encouraging those that are able to be homeowners; (c) to provide subsidised home ownership flats on top of PRH so as to build a progressive housing ladder; and (d) to maintain the healthy and steady development of the private property market, with priority given to the needs of Hong Kong permanent residents in light of the tight supply in the housing market.
My reply to the question of the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows. Input from the Development Bureau has been incorporated.
(a) In the case of PRH, the allocation standard of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) is no less than 7 square metres (m2) internal floor area (IFA)(Note 1) per person as far as resources permit. Over the past ten years, the actual IFA per person of PRH tenants (including those living in Tenants Purchase Scheme estates) has increased from about 11.3 m2 to about 12.9 m2.
The Government currently does not keep statistics on the average living space per person in private housing.
(b) The Government has provided the HA with sufficient land for building a total of 79 000 PRH flats within five years from 2012/13 to 2016/17. The information requested for in the question is listed in Table 2 attached.
In addition, the Government has announced the resumption of the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS). Our target is to provide a total of about 17 000 new HOS flats within four years from 2016/17; and to build about 5 000 HOS flats each year from 2020/21 onwards. The first batch of 2 100 HOS flats, which are all two-bedroom units, is scheduled for completion in 2016/17.
(c) As development characteristics vary among districts, and development capacity is subject to the constraints of various factors such as environment, topography and infrastructure, the maximum plot ratio in a developable residential zone (Note 2) varies in different areas. The Government does not keep statistics on sites with regard to their status of development and their respective plot ratios. Hence, we are not in a position to provide the relevant figures.
The 2013 Policy Address has announced a series of measures to increase land supply, among which a number of projects involve the planning and development of rural land. Such projects include the North East New Territories New Development Areas, Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area, Tung Chung New Town Extension, and the reviews of deserted agricultural land in North District/Yuen Long. Through conducting planning and engineering studies, and provided that it is feasible in environmental, transport and infrastructural terms, these projects could release suitable land (including agricultural land) for development and can make good use of the development potential of the land, thereby achieving optimal use of land resources.
(d) In the case of PRH, given the increasing number of PRH applicants on the Waiting List and the fact that supply of land for public housing is limited, in the short to the medium run, the need for "quantity" is more pressing. Hence, the Government must strike a reasonable balance between the needs of PRH applicants and the vision of progressively improving the average living space per person.
The Government is now reviewing its long term housing strategy to ensure the optimal use of the existing land and housing resources to meet the medium and long term housing needs of the community. One of the issues studied by the Long Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee is ways to optimise and rationalise the use of PRH resources. The Government will prepare proposals on this for consulting the public.
As regards land supply for housing, given the current tight supply, the Government's target is to continue increasing the supply of land for residential purpose through a mutli-pronged approach, with a view to tackling the housing problem at root. The 2013 Policy Address has clearly set out the Government's overall policy blueprint for increasing land supply and solving the housing problem. It has also clearly set out various strategies and measures to facilitate sustainable social and economic development and has made it a vision of the Hong Kong's community to improve the living space of Hong Kong people.
Note 1: According to the Code of Measuring Practice issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, IFA is the area contained within the enclosing walls of a unit measured to the interior face of the external wall or separating wall. Saleable Area is the area contained within the enclosing walls of the unit measured up to the exterior face of an external wall or the centre line of a separating wall between adjoining units. Generally, IFA and Saleable Area is related; and Saleable Area is usually larger than IFA of a unit.
Note 2: Under the statutory plans of the New Territories, developable residential zones mainly include "Residential (Group A)", "Residential (Group B)", "Residential (Group C)", "Residential (Group D)", "Residential (Group E)", "Village Type Development", "Comprehensive Development Area" and "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Rural Use" zones.
Ends/Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:35
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