Government Announces Tender for 745 Flats in Tung Chung's Fourth Quarter Land Sale Program

Government announces quarterly land sale programme for January to March 2025

The Government announced today (January 7) the quarterly land sale programme for the fourth quarter of 2024-25, i.e. January to March 2025.

The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said in the fourth quarter of 2024-25, the Government will put up for tender a residential site at Area 106B of Tung Chung New Town Extension, expected to provide a total gross floor area of approximately 37 200square metres and a supply of about 745 flats. This site is not one of the sites on the Land Sale Programme (LSP) this financial year, but the Government considers it an appropriate time to include this site in the LSP and put up for tender in the fourth quarter. When arriving at this decision, the Government has considered recent market environment and views from market stakeholders, the MTR Corporation Limited's recent successful tender of a site nearby, as well as the upcoming gradual completion of public housing in the area. Area 106B sits on a harbourfront location and will be served by the future Tung Chung East Station. Having regard to the views from the real estate industry, the tender of Area 106B attaches simple tender conditions and no requirement to construct Government facilities. Moreover, as the site sits on reclaimed land, the developer is not required to conduct any further site formation works, which may help reduce development cost.

The Government once put up Area 106B for tender in September 2023, but the tender premiums received did not meet the reserve price and hence the tender was cancelled. For the re-tender of Area 106B, the Government has taken into account market feedbacks and enhanced the tender conditions of the site. For example, the infrastructural capacity of the site could only afford around 400 units in the previous tender, resulting in rather large average flat size. After the Government's review on infrastructural capacity, the site now has a capacity to produce 745 units with smaller average unit size, enhancing the business return of the development. As regards construction works, a new road serving the site will be completed very soon, enhancing the accessibility of the site and facilitating construction works.

In addition, the Urban Renewal Authority plans to tender in this quarter its development project in Shantung Street / Thistle Street, bringing about 340flats. As for private development and redevelopment projects, two projects are expected to complete their lease modifications in the fourth quarter, providing a supply of 13 flats.

"Taking all sources of land supply into account, the total private housing land supply in the fourth quarter of this financial year would support the development of around 1 110 units. Together with the supply from the first three quarters, the total private housing land supply of this financial year is expected to support some 8 340 units, which is around 63 per cent of our annual target of private housing supply (13 200units). This figure has not yet reflected private redevelopment projects not requiring lease modification from the fourth quarter, as such figures are only available at a later stage," Ms Linn said.

Ms Linn added that the total private housing supply of this financial year may fall short of the annual target, but this outturn is expected and reasonable. The high interest rate environment and geopolitical developments have impacted investment and cash flow, reducing activities in local assets markets. Developers have been cautious in bidding for sites. Notwithstanding the recent interest rates adjustments and gradual market recovery, the Government believes developers would still need time to re-adjust. Hence the Government remains prudent and pragmatic in land disposal this quarter, even though it has ample sites to dispose of, reflecting that the Government has overall steer on land supply, which allows it to consider when to roll out sites depending on the circumstances. Also, private housing land supply from the past four financial years have exceeded the annual target by an aggregate of about 12 000 flats, far more than the shortfall in this financial year (about 4 860 flats).

The Government will continue to sustain its effort in rolling out land in a prudent and pragmatic manner, and flexibly adjust land disposal strategy according to market situation, in order to meet housing and economic development needs.

The list of the site to be tendered in January to March 2025 is in the Annex. The actual tender timetable will be drawn up taking into account the progress of necessary preparatory work. The Lands Department will announce the detailed land sale arrangements before the site is put up for tender.

CHP investigates food poisoning cluster

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (January 8) investigating a food poisoning cluster affecting 10 persons, and reminded the public to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene when travelling outside Hong Kong to prevent foodborne diseases.

The CHP was notified by the Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CX) that some passengers of a flight arriving in Hong Kong from Kathmandu, Nepal, this morning reported food poisoning symptoms, including vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and fever, about 10 to 30 minutes after having meals served in flight.Upon arrival of the flight, staff members of the Port Health Division of the CHP immediately boarded the plane to conduct epidemiological investigations of the affected passengers.

The cluster involved six males and four females aged between 21 and 38. Four of them sought medical advice upon landing. None required hospitalisation.

Preliminary investigations by the CHP revealed that the food served on the flight included: bread, fruits, salad, lamb rice, chicken rice and ice-cream. On the other hand, nine of the affected persons had joined an exchange trip to Nepal between December 28, 2024 and January 7, 2025. In addition to eating on board the flight to Hong Kong, these nine people had eaten the same takeaway chicken, cucumber and tomato sandwiches with salad dressing and French fries about two hours before boarding the flight (i.e. four to five hours before the onset of symptoms). Based on the epidemiological information currently available, it is likely that the sandwiches were the source of the outbreak.

The CHP is still investigating the incident, and an increase in the number of people affected cannot be ruled out. As a precautionary measure, the CHP has collected the food samples served in flight for testing.

The CHP appealed to those who were onboard the flight operated by CX (flight number: CX640) from Kathmandu, Nepal, to Hong Kong on January 7 local time to call the CHP hotline (2125 2372) for follow up and medical surveillance. The hotline will operate from tomorrow (January 9) until January 10 from 9am to 5pm.They should seek medical advice immediately if they develop symptoms of infection, such as fever or feeling unwell.

To prevent foodborne diseases, members of the public are reminded to maintain personal, food and environmental hygiene at all times. When dining out, one should:

Avoid eating raw seafood;

Be a discerning consumer in choosing cold dishes, including sashimi, sushi and raw oysters at a buffet;

Choose pasteurised eggs, egg products or dried egg powder for dishes that often use lightly cooked or uncooked eggs;

Patronise only reliable and licensed restaurants;

Store and reheat pre-cooked or leftover foods properly before consumption;

Ensure food is thoroughly cooked before eating during a hotpot or barbecue meal;

Handle raw and cooked foods carefully and separate them completely during the cooking process;

Use two sets of chopsticks and utensils to handle raw and cooked foods;

Avoid patronising illegal food hawkers;

Drink boiled water;

Refrain from trying to use salt, vinegar, wine or wasabi to kill bacteria as they are not effective; and

Always wash hands before eating and after going to the toilet.