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In response to media enquiries on whether the Government will lower the housing supply target in accordance with the updated set of population projections released by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), which indicated a slower growth in the number of households than previously projected, a spokesman for the Transport and Housing Bureau gave the following reply today (September 25):
As stated in the Long Term Housing Strategy, the Government will update on an annual basis the long term housing demand projection to take into account any changes in circumstances and to adjust on a timely basis the rolling 10-year housing supply target. Our new long term housing demand projection will adopt C&SD's latest projection regarding the net increase in the number of households.
Apart from the net increase in the number of households, the Government, in projecting the long term housing demand, will also take into account other major components including the number of households displaced by redevelopment and the number of inadequately housed households. We are in the process of collecting relevant data with a view to updating the long term housing demand projection for the period from 2016/17 to 2025/26. We aim to release at the end of this year or early next year the updated projection of the long term housing demand and the housing supply target for the 10-year period from 2016/17 to 2025/26. Hence, it cannot be ascertained at this stage whether the housing supply target will be revised.
Ends/Friday, September 25, 2015
Issued at HKT 19:30
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