The Education Bureau has received a total of 52 applications for the Hostels in the City Scheme, of which 45 applications involving around 11,450 hostel places have been confirmed eligible, according to Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho.
The majority are wholesale conversion cases located in urban areas including Yau Tsim Mong, Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Wan Chai, and Central and Western Districts, she noted.
Among the 45 applications, two involved wholesale or partial conversion of existing hotels into student hostels, Linn said.
Linn added that five applications have been submitted to the Lands Department for waivers or lease modifications with premium implications to date, while seven other cases have yet to submit relevant applications for the department's processing.
Four projects under the scheme had been completed and commenced operation in the 2026/27 academic year, providing approximately 700 hostel places for post-secondary students, she said.
Furthermore, five cases, which could offer about 740 hostel places, have obtained all the approvals related to development control and are currently undergoing conversion works that are expected to be completed in about a year, Linn noted.
As the Lands Department plans to put up for tender the Siu Lek Yuen site in the third quarter of this financial year for post-secondary student hostel development under the scheme with an estimated provision of 600 beds, the government said it will consider whether and when to put the Kai Tak and Tung Chung East sites up for sale based on the tender results.
