XN000022-1973-06-06 — Page 12

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Wednesday, June 6, 1973

NO SOLUTION TO HOUSING SHORTAGE

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Dr. the Hon. S.Y. Chung said today he supported rent control as

an interim measure to curb rapid inflation "but not as a solution to housing

shortage."

"Any control of this nature will not solve our housing problem and

I submit that the only effective long-term remedy is to increase the supply

for meeting the demand for housing," he stressed.

Dr. Chung was speaking in the Legislative Council on new holding

legislation to freeze rents in unprotected domestic premises.

The acute housing shortage, he said, was due to a number of factors

but the government was responsible for the two most major ones - namely, the

insufficient supply of land for residential housing development, and the long

delay caused by the Building Authority for approval of building plans.

Dr. Chung said he did not believe that Hong Kong could maintain the

viability of its export-oriented economy "if we have to pay such high prices

of land equivalent to $300 per square foot of gross floor area."

He added that many people also thought that the present procedure for

The time was long overdue,

approving building plans had outlived its usefulness.

he said, for a re-examination of the whole procedure with a view to streamlining

the system of control.

"Unless the government is willing and able to eliminate, or at least

improve on, these two main bottlenecks in the housing development, the appalling

housing situation and the expensive domestic rental will continue to be one of

our major social and economic problems," he warned.

/Citing