Hong Kong’s Development Bureau and the Urban Renewal Authority are reviewing cash compensation based on the value of a seven-year-old flat in the same district, alongside the related flat-for-flat arrangement. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said the existing compensation level is very unlikely to be maintained.
The government is aiming to put forward concrete proposals and begin consultation in the first half of 2027.
The Urban Renewal Authority’s chief executive said 98% of owner-occupiers affected by its redevelopment projects chose cash compensation, even when flat-for-flat was available.
The chief executive also argued that the acquisition terms can make it harder for private developers to buy old buildings. In the authority’s four most recent projects with acquisition offers, the price per square foot was generally about 1.3 to 1.4 times the market price and did not reflect the condition of each unit. Some owners waited for a possible authority offer or declined maintenance, complicating private acquisitions.
Linn has said private-sector participation matters: over the past decade, housing produced through Urban Renewal Authority redevelopment accounted for about 20% of the total, with the private market supplying the other 80%.
Three plots in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North have been set aside for the authority to consider building replacement flats for a future flat-for-flat scheme.