Policy Address

120.         It is a difficult challenge for the Government and the community to find adequate land to meet our housing supply target for the next decade.  This will involve making choices and accepting trade-offs.  In the past year, the Government continued to step up its efforts to boost land supply in the short, medium and long terms.  The Government has identified about 80 additional Green Belt sites and Government, Institution or Community (GIC) sites in various districts with a total area of over 150 hectares with the potential to be rezoned for residential use.  These sites in various districts can be made available in the next five years to provide about 89 000 units to help meet the demand for housing land over the next decade.  Including sites identified earlier on, there are about 150 sites that have to be rezoned for residential use and will be made available over the next five years to provide about 210 000 additional public and private units.  To rezone these sites for housing purposes, increase development intensity and achieve the proposed target for residential flat production, we have to take into account practical planning factors such as traffic and infrastructural capacities, community facilities, technical constraints, local characteristics, existing development intensity, as well as possible impact of the proposed developments on the local environment, landscape and air ventilation.  Some sites may require land resumption, clearance or relocation of existing or planned facilities.  The Government will give due regard to these factors to minimise the impact on local areas.  What is more important, though, is for everyone to work together, and support our measures to rezone these sites for housing purposes and increase their development intensity.  With the community’s full support, we will be able to provide sufficient land to achieve our housing target.  The Government will strive to expedite all necessary procedures.

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