Cash-strapped Hong Kong urban renewal body set to reveal proposed payout changes

Hong Kong’s cash-strapped Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will consult the public next year about its preliminary proposal to revamp a financially unsustainable compensation scheme for redevelopment-affected flat owners, a minister has said.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho on Friday gave a timeline for reviewing the statutory body’s compensation mechanism, which provides payouts equivalent to the market price of a comparable seven-year-old home in the same district.

Two days earlier, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in his latest annual policy address that three sites in the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North new development areas would be set aside for the URA to construct new buildings as replacement homes for those losing their flats due to urban renewal projects.

Linn on Friday said: “The URA does not only look for profit in redevelopment projects, but it also provides community facilities. Alongside its seven-year compensation mechanism, it faces significant financial pressure.

“The government cannot just hand over the redevelopment task to such a good partner and then leave someone to fend for themselves. The government is concerned about its finances, but land resources are continuously being made available.

“If we can provide land to the URA, it is also a good financial support without affecting our expenditure.”