Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun emphasized that the government will continue to prioritize land development, with over 30,000 public housing units to be completed annually over the next five years.
Developers and professionals gathered on Tuesday at a Sing Tao News Corporation forum to share their forecasts about the property sector ahead of the upcoming policy address release.
Speaking at the forum, Wong stated that the government will adopt a "flexible and measured" approach in releasing land to the market.
He stressed that public housing and private residential markets would be handled separately, with an average of more than 30,000 public housing units completed each year over the next five years, aiming to reduce the waiting time to 4.5 years.
He noted that regardless of market conditions, the government must persist in land development to avoid repeating past situations where economic downturns led to slowed land development, resulting in insufficient land supply during economic recovery.
Wong particularly highlighted that the Northern Metropolis will be Hong Kong's primary source of land and public housing over the next 10 to 20 years. The government plans to develop 3,000 hectares of land in the next decade, with 1,700 hectares coming from the Northern Metropolis.
The Northern Metropolis is expected to provide around 210,000 residential units, accounting for nearly half of the future housing supply.
