Budget 2025: Hong Kong to put commercial land sales on hold amid high vacancy rates, weak property market
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong will put commercial land sales on hold in the coming fiscal year, Financial Secretary Paul Chan has announced, citing high vacancy rates and a struggling property market.
“In view of the high vacancy rates of offices in recent years and the relatively ample supply in the next few years, the government will not roll out any commercial site for sale in the coming year to allow the market to absorb the existing supply,” Chan said during his budget speech on Wednesday.
The government will also rezone some commercial sites for residential use instead, to allow “greater flexibility of land use,” the finance minister told lawmakers in Cantonese.
8 residential sites
The government will roll out land sales for eight residential sites in the coming fiscal year. There will also be railway property development projects undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA), as well as private development and redevelopment projects.
The residential sites and development projects altogether will provide about 13,700 units, “similar to the projected annual demand for private housing,” Chan said.
Hong Kong’s coffers have been hit by a sluggish property market.
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the city earned HK$13.5 billion in revenue from land premiums, “substantially lower than the original estimate by HK$19.5 billion,” Chan said. The finance chief estimated last year that land premiums would bring in HK$33 billion in revenue.
- HK logs estimated HK$87.2bn deficit, 7% spending cuts over coming 3 years.
- Public transport subsidy cut back as threshold upped to HK$500.
- Hong Kong to halt commercial land sales on hold amid high vacancy rates.
- Pay freeze for gov’t employees, inc. civil servants, judges, and chief exec.
- Use of HK$2 transport scheme for elderly capped to 240 trips per month.
- Hong Kong airport tax to rise from HK$120 to HK$200.
- Hong Kong considers legalisation of basketball gambling.
- Activists call off traditional demo at gov’t HQ citing ‘immense pressure’.
Stay tuned to HKFP for full, trusted coverage of the 2025 budget.
He also said Hong Kong only collected HK$58 billion in revenue from stamp duties – HK$13 billion lower than the original estimate.
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