(By Yan Lunle)
To improve the poor living environment of the grassroots citizens, the Government introduced a target of supplying 10,000 intergrade houses within three years in Policy Address in October, and it was responded by many developers. The newly joined leading developer is Wheelock Real Estate, which announced yesterday that it would lease 500,000 sq ft of land to non-profit organizations at a rent of HKD1 per plot, providing 2,000 intergrades houses with a loan period of 8 years, and it is expected to be launched in the market in about 1 year later. The Chairman of Wheelock Real Estate, Leong Chi-kin emphasizes, the group borrowing land only wants to help because Hong Kong is in urgent need for housing, but has nothing to do with the Mainland's earlier criticism of Hong Kong real estate developers hoarding land.
Wheelock announced yesterday that, it would lease multiple sites in the New Territories for construction of intergrade housing at the cost of HKD1 per each to two non-profit organizations, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and Kowloon Lok Sin Tong, and the referred land is 500,000 sq ft accounting for about 10% of the farmland reserve of the company. The land is distributed in Tai Po, Tuen Mun and Tung Chung. The loan period is 8 years, and it is expected to supply 2,000 intergrade houses, benefiting 6,000 families or more than 20,000 people.
Ting Kok Road Project involves 1,800 units.
It is understood that the land in Tai Po involved is the largest, locating near Ting Kok Road and providing 1,800 units, and it will provide open-style, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. In addition to loaning land, Wheelock will also be responsible for the preliminary project development, including preliminary and simple land leveling and planning applications, and other procedures and costs, also it will apply to the Government's HKD5 billion fund for related funding in the future. The project will be based on the "assembly and synthesis" construction method. It is expected to be launched in the market about one year later. It will adopt a stepped design and include environmental protection elements such as solar panels. After completion, it will be handed over to two non-profit organizations for operation.
Leong Chi-kin said, the shortage of housing supply is an urgent problem in Hong Kong, and the Government proposed in the Policy Address earlier to increase the number of intergrade housing, so Wheelock as a member of the community takes the initiative to contact the Government to put forward the above plan hoping to promote this goal. He emphasized that the company hopes to serve as a bridge to assist Hong Kong, willing to share experiences with others, and hopes to do more and better with other kind-hearted people.
Chen Fan expected there would be more developers to participate.
The Secretary for Transport and Housing Bureau, Chen Fan expresses, the Government announced in last month that it had found 6,000 intergrade housing units, and together with Wheelock's newly 2,000 units the total is 8,000 units, getting closer to the target of 10,000 units in three years. The Government is confident of reaching the target since there are other developers interested in participating in the scheme. He says that currently, about 120,000 households are living in unsuitable homes, far more than the 10,000 intergrade housing supply target, so more developers are welcome to donate or lend idle land.
Leong Chi-kin, who is also the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Real Estate Developers' Association (REDA), points out that, other real estate developers in REDA also intend to develop intergrade housing, while the agricultural land is mainly concentrated in several real estate developers, and some have already proposed to borrow or donate land. He describes current as an "extraordinary period" and the Government is short of supply in the short to medium term, so he choses to lend out land at this time, hoping to assist some people with poor living conditions. "Of course the Government will take care of these people, while everyone will complement each other if private developers help,” he says.
Leong Chi-kin: I want to do something for Hong Kong.
He also emphasizes that borrowing land has nothing to do with the mainland's earlier criticism of Hong Kong's real estate developers hoarding land, but because they are Hong Kong citizens and want to do something for Hong Kong. When asked about the criticism that borrowing land only is preparation for future development, Leong Chi-kin expresses that the development of large-scale residential property requires a lot of infrastructure, different from intergrade housing, so this approach is "impossible" to prepare for future development. The land lent by the company this time is not the planned land nor the land which was previously applied for public-private cooperation in early in Tung Tsz, Tai Po, but a currently idle land site, so it is lent out to be developed for intergrade housing. He believes that the Government’s housing problem can be better dealt with after 8 years of the loaning period.
Member of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DABHK), Chang Wing-shun expresses, it is hoped that the newly announced project will have basic transportation and community facilities nearby, and the Government's HKD5 billion allocation for supporting intergrade housing will be reviewed by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council as soon as possible. Besides, about supporting the grassroots residents living in private housing estate and households living in divided houses, in addition to increasing the supply of public housing and transitional housing, the DABHK requires the Government to launch N cashless subsidies as scheduled and complete the rent subsidy study as soon as possible, also normalize the related subsidies. The authorities also need to study and implement the rent management system for divided houses to support the implementation of rents and subsidies.
