Policy Address
22. On the other hand, the Development Bureau will soon announce details of the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme (LSPS) along the policy direction outlined in last year’s Policy Address. Views of stakeholders will be gauged with the target of accepting applications early next year. Unlike other development modes of Government-led planning and Government-initiated land resumption, LSPS will tap market force in planning and construction. We hope that this will release as soon as possible private lots with consolidated ownership but not yet covered by government planning and study, so as to speed up short- and medium-term housing supply. The Government will facilitate infrastructural enhancement to allow higher development intensity and prescribe that at least 70% of the additional gross floor area gained should be allocated for public housing or SH as intended by the Government. As such, land owners have to carve out part of their land and hand them over to the Government for the said housing development, while the remainder of the site can be retained for private housing development. The land owners concerned will be responsible for providing infrastructure and other community facilities necessary to support the housing development projects, and the associated construction cost will be deducted from the land premium.
23. Taking into account public views, we propose to adopt a fair, robust and transparent vetting and approval mechanism under which applications are subject to thorough examination by a multi-disciplinary team of civil servants. Also, a newly established Panel of Advisors comprising members with credibility in society will provide advice. After that, the applications will be submitted to the Chief Executive in Council for approval. All town planning and other statutory and administrative procedures will continue to apply, including the requirement for land owners to pay land premium at full market value for the private housing development and ancillary commercial facilities. LSPS will cover a period of three years and the area of private land to be approved will be capped at 150 hectares.
24. I note that individual property developers have recently announced that they would provide or lend land for housing development and other public welfare uses at no cost. This is a proactive act of shouldering a share of social responsibility. The Government welcomes such act, but this will not affect the Government’s full strength in taking forward various land supply measures. I appeal to all property developers to support the Government in developing their land for public housing or SH through the application of the Lands Resumption Ordinance and LSPS to make active contributions towards easing the housing problem of Hong Kong people.
