Four sites unveiled for building transitional homes
The first four sites for the government’s “light public housing” scheme have been revealed, with most of them located in remote districts in the New Territories, such as Sheung Shui and Yuen Long.
The Housing Bureau yesterday said a total of HK$32 billion in construction and operation costs would be needed to build 30,000 transitional homes for lowincome families by the 2027-28 financial year, under a new scheme proposed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address last month.
Two of the four sites revealed in a paper submitted by the bureau to the Legislative Council are in Sheung Shui and Yuen Long, while the other two are in Tuen Mun.
The Tuen Mun sites include a 0.8-hectare area next to the Ching Chung light rail station, and another 2.6-hectare plot is close to Ching Tin Estate, a public housing complex. The Post learned these two sites with smaller sizes were owned by the government, and authorities were planning to build blocks with at least 10 floors on each plot.
A source said the two sites located in Yuen Long and Sheung Shui were borrowed from the private sector and the government was planning to build three-storey blocks there.
Both sites are near private housing blocks. The 8.9-hectare area in Yuen Long is next to Fairview Park, while the 2.8hectare one in Lin Tong Mei in Sheung Shui is opposite Miami Crescent. Authorities said they were searching for more sites in urban areas, with an aim to release further details by June.
The authorities did not reveal when and how many flats would be built in the four locations.
But the Architectural Services Department said it planned to begin construction for the first batch of 1,000 homes in the 202324 financial year, which would be completed by 2024-25. The remaining 29,000 homes would be finished in stages between 2025 and 2027.
With the introduction of the “light public housing scheme”, the government hopes to reduce the waiting time for permanent and temporary public flats to 4.5 years by the 2026-27 financial year. The wait for a permanent public rental flat is currently 5.6 years.
With an estimated building cost of HK$1,951 per square foot, the government will apply for a HK$32 billion lump sum grant from Legco in the first quarter of next year.
The fund will include a HK$26.8 billion design and construction fee, infrastructure costs amounting to HK$600 million, and HK$4.7 billion for operating costs.
Temporary flats sized between 107 sq ft and 333 sq ft will have basic amenities, such as an air-conditioner, a heater and a fan, with rents ranging from HK$570 to HK$2,650.
The rents are set at 90 per cent of the amount for newly built public rental housing in the same district.
The government will tender transitional housing sites to organisations for management while inviting all public rental housing applicants to become tenants of temporary homes.
In case of oversubscription, operators would prioritise households in need, such as applicants who have waited for a long time and low-income families living in difficult conditions.
Depending on nearby developments, the site might also provide transport and community facilities.
Scott Leung Man-kwong, deputy chairman of Legco’s panel on housing, said he worried about a low occupancy rate in the two remote sites of Sheung Shui and Yuen Long.
“These locations are yet to have large-scale public transport networks that can endure the pressure brought by future tenants. It may reduce applicants’ incentive to apply for light public housing,” he said.