Rising up to challenges with determination and perseverance

The Government has once again made encouraging progress in increasing land and housing supply.

With the dedicated efforts of the departments concerned over the past few months, the Government has identified all sites necessary for the development of about 75 000 new public rental housing (PRH) flats over the five years from 2012-13 and about 17 000 new Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats over the four years from 2016-17. This is an important step in implementing our blueprint for housing supply.

The conversion of land use to support housing development is also being actively pursued. This afternoon, Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung and Secretary for Development Mr Paul Chan visited two proposed sites for PRH and HOS development in Sham Shui Po and Ngau Tau Kok respectively.

I want to reiterate that the number of 75 000 PRH units available in these five years is a basic figure. Since all sites for these 75 000 units have already been identified, any additional land secured later can be used to boost the supply of PRH flats. The Government will continue to step up its efforts in relieving the acute housing needs of the public through a multi-pronged approach.

We are making steady progress in solving the housing problem. I call upon all Hong Kong people to stand united and work together towards the goal of assisting grassroots families in moving into public housing and the middle-income families in buying their own homes.

I trust that you will join hands with the Government to tackle the housing problem with determination and perseverance.

February 5, 2013