Budget Speech

Land Supply

85.      The 2008-09 Application List provided the market with a variety of commercial/residential sites and "hotel use only" sites. Because of the economic downturn, there were few applications to trigger sites for sale for the whole year. So far we have only sold one small residential site. Although this has affected our land revenue for the year, it proves that a market-driven land sale mechanism can better reflect and respond to economic changes. We have reviewed the development parameters of certain sites to better respond to the aspirations of the community for lower development density. We will adhere to the principles of certainty, clarity and consistency in preparing the Application List for the next year. We will extend the pilot measures for "hotel use only" sites for another year. At the same time, the Lands Department will continue to explore practicable ways to streamline the lease modification process and update premium assessment in light of market conditions.