Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (February 4):

Question:

     As pointed out earlier on in a research report, a shortfall of 120 000 student hostel places is projected by 2028. To increase student hostel supply, the Government launched the Hostels in the City Scheme (the Scheme) in July 2025 to facilitate the market in converting existing commercial buildings into student hostels by obviating the need for rezoning, and will also earmark new sites (zoned as commercial or otherwise) for building new hostels. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the numbers of the following items since the inception of the Scheme: (i) applications received and approved; (ii) applications involving the conversion of existing buildings into student hostels; (iii) applications for the provision of student hostels in redeveloped or newly constructed buildings; and (iv) student hostel places involved;

(2) whether it will consider extending the scope of the Scheme to allow participation of landlords who intend to redevelop their industrial buildings into new student hostels; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) whether it will consider regularising the Scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(4) of the relevant details of each of the new sites (zoned as commercial or otherwise) earmarked for building new hostels, such as their district of location, size, and available number of student hostel places;

(5) given that, according to a paper submitted by the Government to the Panel on Education of this Council on October 3 last year, seven hostel projects under the Hostel Development Fund are under construction, whether such projects can be completed as scheduled; if not, of the numbers of student hostel places involved and the reasons for the failure to complete such projects as scheduled (set out by hostel project);

(6) whether it will introduce further measures to increase student hostel supply; if so, of the details (including the estimated increase in student hostel places); if not, the reasons for that; and

(7) whether it will establish performance indicators on increasing student hostel supply; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President:

     To consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international post-secondary education hub, the Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Education Bureau (EDB) jointly launched the Hostels in the City Scheme (the Scheme) in July 2025 to facilitate private developers/operators in converting commercial buildings into student hostels through relaxing development control in order to address the accommodation needs of post-secondary students. Subsequently, the 2025 Policy Address announced that the Scheme would expand to cover newly built and redeveloped student hostels as well.

     In respect of the various parts of the question, having consulted the EDB, the reply is as follows:

(1) The Scheme is well-received. As at February 4, 2026, 25 applications involving around 5 100 hostel places have been received, most of which are located in the urban areas, including Hung Hom, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Sheung Wan and other districts. Apart from two applications which involve the construction of new student hostels on private land, the remaining applications are for converting existing buildings, most of which are wholesale conversion cases. All 25 applications have been confirmed to be eligible under the Scheme. The proponents of these 25 cases are now seeking approvals under development control procedures that the Scheme has helped relax, while the relevant departments are processing these applications at full steam.

(2) Having regard to Hong Kong's status as an international metropolis, we hope that the student hostels under the Scheme are of a certain degree of livability. In the past twenty-some years, a considerable amount of industrial land has been rezoned for non-industrial uses such as residential, commercial, and business uses. Sites which are currently still zoned as "Industrial" ("I") are mostly preserved for industrial activities. Due to factors such as traffic, air ventilation and noise, the livability of these "I" zones is generally lower than that of areas with commercial buildings. Therefore, under the current Scheme, be it an existing industrial building or a new redeveloped building, applications involving "I" zones are not eligible under the Scheme (Note).

     However, if the existing industrial building is located in non-"I" zones, such as "Commercial" ("C") or "Other Specified Use" annotated "Business" zones, applications involving proposed demolition and redevelopment or having undergone wholesale conversion into non-industrial use are already eligible under the Scheme according to the prevailing arrangements.

(3) We have not laid down an application deadline for the Scheme and interested applicants may submit applications to the EDB anytime.

(4) Besides facilitating the market in converting existing commercial buildings and constructing post-secondary student hostels on existing private land, the DEVB also plans to put up suitable sites for student hostel development through land sale.

     As such, on January 20, 2026, the DEVB invited the market to submit expressions of interest for student hostel development on three formed sites. If the market response is positive, the DEVB would consider making available these sites to the market by land sale through tender in 2026-27 the earliest. These three sites are located in Kai Tak, Siu Lek Yuen (Shatin), and Tung Chung East respectively, and are all zoned "C" on the relevant Outline Zoning Plans. In other words, developing student hostels under the Scheme would not require further planning applications. The relevant sites are also "developable land" that have been formed and equipped with basic infrastructure. The Government's preliminary estimate is that altogether, around 4 500 beds can be provided on the three sites, but the actual bed numbers will depend on the design of the project proponents. The key information of the sites is summarised as below:

Site in Kai Tak

     The site is located at the former South Apron area of the Kai Tak Development Area, near the Kai Tak Sports Park and adjacent to the New Acute Hospital commencing operation this year. Nearby MTR stations include Kai Tak Station and Kowloon Bay Station. Its site area is around 0.74 hectares (ha) and is subject to a maximum plot ratio (PR) of 5.8, a building height restriction (BHR) of 80 metres above Principal Datum (mPD), a maximum site coverage of 65 per cent, and a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of around 43 000 square metres (sq m).

Site in Siu Lek Yuen, Shatin

     The immediate area of the site is intermixed with commercial, residential, and other uses and is in proximity to the MTR City One Station and Shek Mun Station. Of around 0.11 ha, the site is subject to a maximum PR of 9.5, a BHR of 120mPD, and a maximum GFA of around 10 000 sq m.

Site in Tung Chung East

     The site is adjacent to the MTR Tung Chung East Station commencing operation in 2029. Its site area is around 0.25 ha and is subject to a maximum PR of 9, a BHR of 160mPD, and a maximum GFA of around 23 000 sq m.

(5) In order to expedite the development of student hostels, the Government has provided one-off capital grants of about $10.3 billion in total under the Hostel Development Fund (HDF) for six University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities with hostel shortfalls to carry out 15 student hostel projects. So far, eight projects have been completed, providing a total of around 7 800 student hostel places.

     As for the remaining seven hostel projects with construction works under progress, about 6 500 student hostel places are involved and the details are tabulated below. The relevant universities anticipate the projects to be completed gradually over the next few years.
 

University	Hostel project	Number of additional hostel places to be provided
City University of Hong Kong	Student Hostel at Tat Hong Avenue, Kowloon Tong	1 691 (999 places funded by the HDF plus 692 additional privately-funded places)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	Student Hostel at Wu Yee Sun Campus	250
	Student Hostel at Chung Chi Campus	300
	Student Hostel at Area 39	394
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Student Hostel at Ho Man Tin	1 279
	Student Hostel at Tat Hong Avenue, Kowloon Tong	1 680
The University of Hong Kong	Student Residence at High West Site	938

(6) and (7) According to the EDB, currently, the student hostel places comprise both publicly-funded places and places provided by the private sector. Similar to other cities with clusters of top universities, Hong Kong's development into an international post-secondary education hub will attract more students from different geographical regions to study in Hong Kong. The demand for non-local student accommodation often attracts the private sector's participation, providing diversified options. For example, post-secondary institutions may collaborate with the private sector to provide hostel places or offer consulting services to non-local students seeking accommodation in the private residential rental market.

     The EDB and the UGC encourage post-secondary institutions to adopt a multi-pronged approach to broaden students' accommodation options by making reference to the development of other major education hubs around the world and leveraging efficient market forces. The universities should support the accommodation needs of different student groups in a pragmatic, balanced, and appropriate manner. The EDB will also continue to collaborate with the DEVB, promoting the policy objective of consolidating Hong Kong's status as an international post-secondary education hub at full steam, and facilitating the private market to increase post-secondary student hostel supply through streamlining development control. As the planning and development of student hostel projects take time, coupled with the private sector participation element, the Government has not set a key performance indicator for this.

Note: It is worth mentioning that since student hostels eligible under the Scheme must fulfil the natural lighting and ventilation requirements applicable to domestic buildings, including that the distance between any parts of a hostel room and the window should not be over 9 metres, and the floor plate of existing industrial buildings are often relatively large, a substantial amount of floor area cannot be converted into hostel rooms, which is sub-optimal in terms of space utilisation. Therefore, the commercial viability of converting existing industrial buildings into student hostels is also limited.

Ends/Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:12

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