Hong Kong: Majority back using park areas for housing
Momentum 107 survey shows that almost six out of 10 people support developing areas of country parks that are of low ecological value.
The advocacy group said it polled a thousand people and found a majority of them thought the land available for housing is not enough.
About 55 percent said the outskirts of country parks could be used for housing development, while 40 percent were against the idea, according to the survey.
The group said it is going to push forward a campaign to increase land for residential use by another one percentage point to eight percent in the next three years.
If successful, the additional land made available could build 1.5 million flats to solve the city’s housing woes, the group said.
An expert group is looking into the controversial plan to use some fringes of country parks for housing. The plan is opposed by environmental groups.
The previous administration headed by CY Leung had proposed the idea to solve the housing shortage. Measures to cool home prices have hardly worked as price rises continued unabated throughout the last 18 months.
But the founder of Centaline Property Agency, Shih Wing-ching, said the government could easily push down home prices by asking developers only to sell new flats to first time buyers.
Shih told RTHK’s Timmy Sung that half of all new units should be earmarked for those making their first step on the property ladder.
