THE SOLE CANDIDATE ON the CAMPAIGN | Chui pledges to grant more land to increase housing market supply

The sole candidate for the upcoming Chief Executive election, Chui Sai On, met yesterday with members of seven industry groups that represent property developers and the construction industry.
The president of the Macau General Association of Real Estate, Ip Kin Wa, said that the current public housing regime could cause division amongst residents. He suggested that the Macau government should establish a MOP10 billion fund to provides interest-free loans to those applying for affordable housing units and to first time homebuyers.
Some attendees asked the government to amend a number of property-development-related laws and regulations, including a request to cancel the minimum room area requirement.
An attendee also complained that the government’s public housing projects are competing with private property developers.
In reply, Chui Sai On expressed the belief that the new MSAR administration needs to pay more attention to the process of updating laws and regulations and to the improvement of administrative efficiency.
Chui argued that the supply of private and public property is not matching societal expectations, which has led to a further increase in housing prices.
“The entire structure of the housing market can’t survive with low supply of private housing units and I think this would be a big challenge for the next government. We need to study on how to grant more land to increase market supply,” he said.
Chui Sai On expressed the hope that the new government will be able to boost the housing supply. He also mentioned that several plots of land, including the Nam Van Lake Zones C and D, are yet to be developed.

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