【明報專訊】THE GOVERNMENT has granted the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) two sites in Hung Hom and Tseung Kwan O at a nominal land premium, aimed at bolstering the authority's borrowing capacity in the short term to ease immediate funding pressures. However, as Hong Kong's ageing building stock continues to deteriorate rapidly, and with a substantial pipeline of urban renewal works ahead, the URA must establish a financially sustainable operating model—or risk running out of road.
A few years ago, the Chief Executive's Policy Address proposed lowering the building age threshold for compulsory sale applications and enhancing the URA's financial capacity to meet future liquidity needs. In addition to raising its borrowing limit from $6 billion to $25 billion, the government pledged to provide suitable land to the URA at nil premium. Last week's grant of two sites to the URA—at a token price of $1,000—is a direct result of that policy. The two sites are estimated to have a notional land value of $4.2 billion and $9 billion, respectively.
The URA, a self-financing statutory body, currently holds net assets of around $40 billion. It is in the midst of acquiring properties for six redevelopment projects, with related expenditures projected to reach $23.5 billion in the next two to three years. Yet external estimates suggest the URA has only about $20 billion in liquidity. The latest land grants increase the URA's net assets, helping it access credit more easily and at lower interest rates.
In recent years, the URA has posted multi-billion-dollar losses year after year. Individual redevelopment projects now routinely exceed $10 billion in cost, due in no small part to its compensation policy, which requires paying property owners the value of a seven-year-old flat in the same district. During boom years, such acquisitions were costly but offset by robust sales revenue. In today's sluggish property market, however, the URA increasingly finds itself ''buying high and selling low''—an unsustainable model that has led to significant losses. Continuing to prop up urban renewal with the old ''buy high, sell high'' approach is no longer tenable.
The compensation policy—paying the equivalent of a seven-year-old unit in the same area—was designed to help affected owners find comparable replacement flats locally, and to dampen opposition from property owners and local elected district councillors. Yet critics have long questioned the justification for compensating owners of 60- or 70-year-old buildings at such a generous level, given the huge valuation gap from that of a seven-year-old flat.
The URA's mission is to assist the government in redeveloping Hong Kong's ageing urban areas. It is not, and should not be treated as, a profit-maximising developer. Redevelopment projects must reflect affected residents' housing needs; acquisition prices that are too low would create problems. However, the current policy is proving financially unviable in the long run. In a weak market, the URA could consider loosening tender requirements to attract greater private sector participation; government land grants are also useful in improving financing options. Yet, these are ultimately stopgap measures. If the URA is to meet Hong Kong's long-term redevelopment needs, it must establish a financially sustainable operating model. Anything less is merely papering over the cracks.
明報社評 2025.06.10：批地紓困治標不治本 市建局須財政可持續
政府以象徵式地價向市建局批出紅磡及將軍澳用地，提高其短期借貸融資能力，應付眼前需要。只是本港樓宇老化問題急速惡化，大量市區重建工作尚在前方，市建局必須找出一套可持續的運作模式，否則長遠將無以為繼。
前幾年《施政報告》提出放寬申請強拍的樓齡門檻，以及加強市建局財務能力，應付未來資金周轉需要。除了批准市建局將借貸上限由原來的60億元增至250億元，還提出向市建局免地價提供合適土地。上周以象徵式1000元地價，向市建局批出兩幅用地，正是由此而來。兩幅用地名義土地價值估計為42億及90億元。
市建局是自負盈虧的法定機構，目前資產淨值約有400多億元。現時市建局須就6個已開展的重建項目進行收購，未來兩三年相關開支估計達到235億元，可是根據外界推算，其流動資金，僅約200億元。政府今次批地，提高了市建局手上資產淨值，局方尋求借貸融資，不僅較為容易，息口也可望低一些。
市建局近年接連錄得數十億元的虧損，多個重建項目的預算開支，動輒超過百億元，一大原因乃收購物業時須以同區7年樓齡樓宇的價格，作為業主補償基準。以往樓市好景，局方收購開支雖高，但進帳更豐。可是近年樓市不振，項目出現「高買低賣」情况，錄得龐大虧損，當局不宜繼續以「高買高賣」舊模式支持市區重建項目。
政府當年定下「同區7年樓齡」現金賠償政策，是讓業主在同區買到與被收購單位面積相若的單位，並減少來自舊樓業主及區內民選議員的反對。可是過去亦不時有聲音質疑，六七十年樓齡單位的價值，跟同區7年樓齡的價值相差太遠，有關賠償政策太慷慨。
市建局的定位，是協助政府推動舊區重建，不能亦不應與發展商看齊、只以盈利為先。重建項目必須考慮受影響居民的居住需要，收購價過低會造成問題，然而繼續沿用目前的做法，市建局長遠未必能夠應付。市道不景下，市建局可放寬標書條款，增加市場參與重建誘因；政府批地支持，也有協助融資的效果，然而這些做法，皆屬治標不治本，唯有找到一套具有財政可持續性的運作模式，才能應付未來市區重建的需要。
■/ Glossary 生字 /
running out of road：an idiom that means to reach a point where no more progress can be made or there is nothing left to try
tenable：easy to defend against attack or criticism
stopgap：sth that you use or do for a short time while you are looking for sth better