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The Hong Kong government will cancel the Application List System in fiscal 2013-14 to enhance its land supply control, according to Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po.
Under the Application List System, which used to be the only way for selling government land since January 2004, a developer who is interested in any site on the list can apply for the site’s sale by offering a minimum price to the government. If the minimum price is considered reasonable, the government will put up the site for sale by public auction or tender as appropriate.
Since 2010, the government has taken initiatives to sell land through public auction or tender and has unveiled its land sales program details every quarter, bringing under its control the city’s land supply ever since, Chan told a press conference in Hong Kong on Thursday.
During the 2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal years, developers have rarely applied for land sales, and the vast majority of land sales were government-initiated, Chan said.
He said that there had been some concerns that developers in the city would intentionally reduce their land sales applications in order to manipulate the land supply, which is why the government has decided to cease the Application List System in the next fiscal year.
“The government will (then) be able to sell land according to the market demand and ensure the increase of land supply as much as possible,” said Chan, adding that there will not be any waiting for developers to apply for land sales.
Commenting on the same issue, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said later on Thursday that through the Application List System’s cancellation, the government could then take the lead in land supply, and make it more convenient for smaller developers to participate in government land tenders.
Leung also said that the government will make greater efforts in increasing the land supply, and if extra land is available for sale in the coming year, the government will sell it as soon as possible.
Under the 2013-14 Land Sale Programme, there will be 46 residential sites, which are capable of providing about 13,600 units in total; amongst these sites, 28 are new sites. All the major land supply sources, including the government’s land sales, railway property development projects and the Urban Renewal Authority projects, will provide land for development to provide some 25,800 private residential flats in the coming year, said Chan.