3,300 hectares of land earmarked for construction over next decade

The government will speed up increasing land supply with some 3,300 hectares of land being turned into disposed sites ready for construction in the coming decade, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said.

Chan said the Legislative Council has passed a bill on July 13 to streamline development procedures, including urban planning, land resumption and reclamation and railway construction.

The bill that comes into effect on September 1 will benefit various land projects including the Northern Metropolis and Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands, Chan said.

"It would take us more than 10 years to prepare disposed sites to build major projects in the past, but after streamlining the procedures, the time can be shortened to seven years," Chan said.

"As for other public housing projects, the time of turning potential sites to disposed sites will also be cut from six years to four years," he added.

Chan said the government has identified the sources of supply for 7,300 hectares of land - far more than the 6,200 hectares targeted for development between 2019 to 2048.

"In the coming 10 years, there will be 3,300 hectares of disposed site supply - more than half of which will be from the Northern Metropolis and Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands projects," he said.

Chan said the government has also started to streamline internal administrative procedures.

The Development Bureau has set up a steering group to review all the procedures and unify the standards adopted by various government departments, he said. So far, the steering group has come up with 11 streamlining measures including requirements on buildings' height and area and clauses in land leases.

"[The measures] can not only reduce duplication of work between departments but also enhance the transparency and certainty in the approval process," Chan said.

He also said the government is collaborating with the construction industry to attract more talent by promoting career opportunities in the industry, including allocating HK$1 billion to the Construction Industry Council to provide training programs for construction workers.

Authorities have also allowed for imported workers in the sector as the manpower shortage is expected to exceed 40,000 people by 2027, Chan said. Non-local workers can now apply for the 12,000 quotas to work in the SAR.