Several organisations vying to operate first batch of Hong Kong temporary homes, housing minister says
- Winnie Ho has defended government decision to remove a housing site in Sheung Shui, saying the location is too remote
- ‘The development cost is really high, and the number of flats it could yield is not too many, only 1,100 units,’ she says
Several organisations have expressed an interest in operating the first batch of temporary public housing flats, expected to be open for tender early next year, the Hong Kong minister has revealed while defending the removal of a remote site.
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Saturday said the government had decided to remove a transitional housing site in Sheung Shui that could yield 1,100 “light public housing” flats, saying the location was too remote and lacked infrastructure, which would lead to high development costs.
“It does not have many infrastructure facilities, and channels, electricity and even some sewage treatment facilities need to be redone,” she told a radio programme. “It is also quite far from a transport connection point to the site in Lin Tong Mei [in Sheung Shui].”
“The development cost is really high, and the number of flats it could yield is not too many, only 1,100 units,” she added, noting newly selected sites would make up for the missing homes.
Ho also said that the overall 30,000 temporary homes offered to people waiting to move into public rental flats remained unchanged and expected all of them to be completed by 2027.
