Last chance to apply: land sharing pilot scheme receives final application before deadline
âThe Development Bureau (DEVB) announced today (May 6) the receipt of one more application under the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme (LSPS), before the end of the application period (i.e. May 5).
The application concerns a site at Fung Ka Wai, Ping Shan, Yuen Long, covering about 3.1 hectares of private lots and adjoining government land, currently zoned "Recreation" and "Village Type Development". The application proposes for about 1 500 public housing/Starter Homes units (the exact choice of subsidised housing type to be determined by the Government), about 700 private housing flats and supporting facilities, with a total domestic gross floor area of about 117 400 square metres. The application is made by Brasilia Limited (parent company is Lee On Investment (Holdings) Limited).
Same with the applications received previously, the Land Sharing Office (LSO) under the DEVB will co-ordinate with the departments concerned to facilitate and expedite the processing and vetting of the application.
The LSPS was launched in May 2020 for three years originally. As announced in May 2023, the application period was extended by one year to May 5 this year. Including the aforesaid latest application, a total of seven applications have been received under the LSPS. Their key information and proposed development parameters have been uploaded to the LSPS webpage at (www.devb.gov.hk/en/issues_in_focus/land_sharing_pilot_scheme/land_sharing_pilot_scheme_applications/application_received/index.html) with the latest progress for public reference.
For the six applications received earlier, they have all been given in-principle endorsement by the Government. The applicants have been carrying out in-depth technical assessments in order to finalise the development schemes and parameters, and to complete the feasibility assessment in terms of traffic impact, environmental impact and infrastructure design, etc for subsequent statutory and administrative procedures including planning, works, and lease modification. Statutory rezoning procedures for these projects would commence progressively from the second quarter this year.
A spokesperson for the DEVB said, "The LSPS has achieved its objective of encouraging land owners to share their private land with a view to increasing both the public and private housing supply in the short to medium term. Including the last application just received, the seven applications covering a total area of about 43 hectares, provide a total of more than 32 000 flats, including about 23 300 public housing units. With the Government-led efforts in land creation starting to deliver results, the need to increase the housing supply through the LSPS, with pre-set development parameters on housing yield and housing mix, has already subsided. Hence, the application period of the LSPS closed yesterday (i.e. May 5) in accordance with the announcement in early May last year. Of course, owners of private land are always welcome to pursue gainful use of their land for development subject to fulfilment of statutory planning process and lease modifications."
The spokesperson continued, "We are very grateful to the land owners who have participated in the LSPS for taking practical actions to support the Government's multipronged approach to boost the housing supply. The LSO will continue to provide facilitation to the six applications with in-principle endorsement given by the Government, and process the newly received application for early completion of the projects."
Source: AI-generated images
