The Government is striving to reach its housing supply targets and will closely monitor the progress of various housing projects.
The Transport & Housing Bureau made the statement today in response to media enquiries about a news report on public housing supply in the coming decade.
The statement said the Government will also report to the public regularly the progress of identifying land for public housing in a transparent manner.
The figure of about 250,000 units mentioned in the news report was released in December when the Long Term Housing Strategy was published.
The Government also published a paper on "Long Term Housing Strategy Implementation Milestones as at December 2014" which stated that "assuming that all sites identified can be delivered on time for housing construction", "as of now, in terms of land supply, the Government has identified land for the construction of 254,000 public housing units for the period from 2015-16 to 2024-25".
The statement said, while the Government will continue to strive hard to search for more land and to launch public housing projects, it will encounter various challenges in the process. For example, some sites which have not been properly zoned require local consultation, resumption and clearance while others encountering difficult or complex site conditions require a longer time for foundation works.
Under certain circumstances, not all plans can be fully realised. An example is the recent judicial review on the Kwai Chung outline zoning plan, delaying projects that can provide about 800 flats.
The bureau will review and update the demand projection annually and roll over a new 10-year supply target, as stated in the housing strategy, and will continue to report to the public the latest implementation progress annually, it added.
