Is Hong Kong’s land demand assessment system broken and in need of reform? Experts weigh in

Hong Kong should reassess its demand for land, taking into account structural economic changes and the government’s operating budget deficit, a leading fiscal policy adviser and veteran surveyor said, as the city’s leader rejected his predecessor’s concerns about oversupply.

Professor Liu Pak-wai, director of the Hong Kong Monetary Research Institute at the city’s de facto central bank, made the call amid concerns in Beijing about property developers’ reluctance to participate in government-led projects. Some observers said companies were concerned about falling land values ​​if there was an oversupply.

Former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, now vice chairman of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, warned last month of a potential land glut in a slow market, highlighting costly reclamation efforts during the financial crisis. deficit.

But current leader John Lee Ka-chiu explained that a land bank needed to be created to ensure the government controlled supplies.

Liu told the Post in an interview: “We shouldn’t stop producing land because of cyclical changes… but I believe Hong Kong’s economy is going through some structural changes given the intensification of geopolitics and integration with the mainland.

“It is time to review and evaluate the demand for land and how the government can speed up the process of land production.