Hong Kong authorities aim to sell the first sizeable site under the Northern Metropolis next year in a bid to encourage the private sector to expedite development of the megaproject in the northern New Territories, a minister has said.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also hinted on Sunday that the government could separately sell more land in the last quarter of the 2024-25 financial year, after city leader John Lee Ka-chiu earlier announced fresh measures to boost the property market.
On the megaproject front, the minister said authorities would seek the private sector’s views on its large-scale, land-disposal pilot scheme, which involves developers bidding for a site of 10 to 20 hectares (24.7 to 49.4 acres) to build private properties and public facilities.
“We hope the public-private partnership can save the government’s money in constructing the infrastructure … We hope to seek views from the market and make some reasonable modifications,” she told a TV news programme.
“We expect the chance of success to be high. But if we fail, we may need to use public money to work on the projects.”
The government had identified three large-scale land parcels for use in the pilot scheme, with the sites located in Hung Shui Kiu, Fanling North and San Tin.
