The delayed Sha Tin-Central rail link will come into service earlier than scheduled, Secretary for Transport & Housing Prof Anthony Cheung said.
Elaborating on the development initiatives set out in the 2017 Policy Address at a press conference today, Prof Cheung said the section from Tai Wai to Hung Hom will open six months earlier in mid-2019.
The start date for the link's first phase was pushed back due to the discovery of archaeological sites in To Kwa Wan station.
But the 2021 start date for the Hung Hom-Admiralty section remains unchanged.
On the housing front, Prof Cheung said the Government plans to boost supply through changing land use, increasing development density, developing new areas and extending new towns.
As for measures to cool property prices, Prof Cheung said the increase in stamp duty on property transactions to 15% has calmed the market.
"In the Housing Panel document we submitted to the Legislative Council yesterday, there’s a paragraph mentioning preliminary figures. Of the property transactions involving Hong Kong permanent residents, over 90 per cent of them do not own other properties in Hong Kong when they made the purchase."
The Policy Address mentioned the Government is reviewing the land use of an additional 25 plots of land.
Acting Secretary for Development Eric Ma said the process of changing land use is not easy, adding some projects like the one in Wang Chau, Yuen Long are controversial.
"But the Government will not give up land resumption for development," he said.
