Michael Suen said the small house policy cannot be allowed to last forever. File photo: RTHK
Former government housing secretary Michael Suen has said the small house policy should not be allowed to last forever.
The policy, in place since 1972, allows male indigenous villagers in the New Territories to build a three-storey house on a plot of ancestral land. There have been growing calls for the policy to be reviewed, as the city’s demand for housing and land increase.
Suen, who was Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands from 2002 to 2007, said he had hoped to resolve the problem within his term but was unable to do so. He said when he first took up the post, it was difficult to meet demand for small house rights because no quota was imposed on them.
Speaking on an RTHK programme, he said, looking back, he was "over-confident". He said he had thought about developing small houses "skywards" to utilise land more efficiently.
To do so, the floor area of all three-storey small houses in the New Territories would be combined and applied to taller blocks of flats instead. Suen said he thinks this plan is still feasible, but it’s also important to limit the queue.
"How can we satisfy the demand forever?” he asked. "People would keep having children to succeed their rights, generation after generation. We can't allow the small house policy to persist forever. We must set a date that we all agree on, after which the small house rights will become obsolete."
“It could be in 10 or 20 years' time. That should give people enough time to prepare beforehand, to make sure their interests won't be affected,” he added.
He said he had mentioned the idea to Heung Yee Kuk officials at the time, and he felt there was room for negotiation.
Meanwhile, the 46-year veteran of government service said the city's next chief executive should ensure "effective governance" and promote "social harmony".
He declined to say who he supports for the top job, but did not rule out rallying behind the candidate of his choice in the election in 2017.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1230315-20151217.htm