44
Wednesday, October 16, 1974
I would like to record my gratitude to members of the
Housing Authority for all their efforts to bring better housing to the people of Hong Kong. This is a time for sound and imagin- ative planning and policy formation, and this has made heavy
demands on the Housing Authority's members.
I am concerned about the number of old tenement
buildings which remain undeveloped and are unlikely to be developed by private enterprise. The Housing Society has been preparing detailed proposals for the redevelopment of a number of these old properties, and has been assured of Government's administrative and financial support. Meantime, the Society continues to plan new estates in new town areas, and I would like to express my appreciation to its members under the chairmanship of Sir Douglas Clague for the time and energy they
devote to this very valuable work.
Private developers are a very important source of new housing and we wish to encourage the maximum amount of private housing construction. While I appreciate the problems they face, particularly in financing new schemes, I hope very much that private developers will see the advantages of making new investments in housing now, when land prices have fallen and
building contractors have more capacity.
It is interesting to note the confidence in Hong Kong's future displayed by overseas interests at this time; for instance negotiations are currently proceeding with a major overseas group for the development of a large new residential area at Sha Tin, to house over 30,000 people on a site of about 50 acres.
It is
/this sort
г
i