Pak Shek Kok development plan shifts focus to private housing

Themis Qi

Pak Shek Kok's development plan may be adjusted to focus on private housing, the Development Bureau said, adding that the government aims to release a preliminary proposal as early as the second quarter of 2025.

After reviewing the housing area next to Science Park, the Development Bureau found it more appropriate to develop private homes, just four months after the government was reported to have planned to build 10,000 private and public units there.

In response to an inquiry from Sing Tao Daily, The Standard's sister newspaper, the bureau also attributed the U-turn to the government having already identified sufficient land to meet the public housing supply target in the next 10 years.

Considering the changes to housing supply and the challenges in building Pak Shek Kok MTR station and its surrounding infrastructure, the government deferred the unveiling of the development plan from the end of this year to the second or third quarter of next year.

But the government maintains its goal of putting the Pak Shek Kok station in service no later than 2033.

Over 24,000 staff work in Science Park. Moreover, the adjacent Chinese University of Hong Kong had over 21,000 students for the 2023/24 academic year.

Pak Shek Kok is one of many low-density luxury home communities in the New Territories, including Great Eagle's Ontolo, due to its harbor view and the government's efforts to set up an innovation and technology hub there. Celebrities such as Wong Cho-lam bought a unit in the area.

However, the previous plan revealed in August to build public homes raised concerns about the impact on private properties in Pak Shek Kok.

Pak Shek Kok homes have traded at HK$15,915 per square foot on average for the past 30 days, down by 9.5 percent from the previous 30-day period, data from Midland Realty showed. But Sun Hung Kai Properties won a site in the region in 2019 for over HK$6.3 billion or HK$6,646 per sq ft, the highest in a decade.

Lo Hiu-fung, member of the District Council for Tai Po South, agreed with changing to a private home-focused plan, saying high-density public flats will conflict with Pak Shek Kok's development.

Scott Leung Man-kwong, a member of the Legislative Council, thinks Pak Shek Kok should focus on meeting middle-class demand and development could be accelerated if all residential properties are built by the private sector.

But both Lo and Leung urged the government to announce more details in order to leave enough time for consultations for the sake of public interest.