Lee Shau-kee, chairman of Henderson Land Development Co Ltd, presents the planned youth hostel at a press conference on Thursday. Experts appreciate Lee's efforts to help alleviate the housing burdens of the city's younger generation. Roy Liu / China Daily

Henderson Land boss donates land for youth hostel, will build 5,000 low-cost flats

Real estate magnate Lee Shau-kee has made good on his promises to get Hong Kong people, particularly the young, out of their nightmares of crouching under sky-high property prices and rents.

The chairman of Henderson Land Development Co Ltd - one of Hong Kong's biggest property conglomerates - made dramatic twin offers on Thursday - he will donate a piece of land in Yuen Long to the Po Leung Kuk to build a youth hostel to "help young people buy their own homes or for other development"; and build 5,000 low-cost flats at Shek Kip Mei to help them purchase their own homes without having to make down payments.

Lee - affectionately known as "Uncle Four" and being Hong Kong's second-wealthiest person after Li Ka-shing - made the pledges as he threw his weight behind Chief Executive Leung Chung-ying, who said in his Policy Address on Wednesday that four youth hostel projects are being implemented and that the government will seek help from interested non-governmental groups to launch more projects.

Lee said the hostel apartments will be rented to young people at half of average market prices, and hoped his donation can make the best use of the resources.

The land he donated is an agricultural plot at Ma Tin Pok, with an area of about 63,000 square feet. Some 1,250 units of 300 square feet each will be used to provide shelter for 1,600 people.

The leases will be for two years and can be renewed for a maximum of five years. The hostel is expected to be ready by 2018 with government financing, and will be the biggest youth hostel in Hong Kong.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing welcomed Lee's offer, saying his bureau will actively cooperate with various government departments to make the project succeed.

"The Home Affairs Bureau will actively implement the project. We hope more non-governmental organizations will come up with similar projects at the same time," he said.

Lee said the 5,000 subsidized apartments will be built at Tai Hang Sai Estate, exclusively for youths to buy homes without having to worry about making a down payment. The government has already granted the redevelopment program for the area. Each apartment will cost about HK$1 million.

Tai Hang Sai Estate is currently owned and managed by Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation Ltd - a privately-owned owned company chaired by Lee.

"We've been authorized to redevelop Tai Hang Sai Estate, and we plan to rebuild it, similar to what the Hong Kong Housing Society has been doing," said Lee. "And we'll do our best to help the existing 1,300 residents relocate," the tycoon added.

Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive officer of the residential department of Midland Realty, praised Lee's effort, saying the hostel plan will be most favored by young people living in Yuen Long.

"It's time for the government to pay good attention to our youths as it's under pressure from the public to help the younger generation," Po said, adding that the hostel would have limited impact on the property market.

Wong Leung-sing, senior associate director of research at Centaline Property Agency, described Lee's donation as a smart move.

However, he disagreed that young people should be taken care of by housing benefits. "Who would take care of their parents if all young people want to live alone? The youth hostel would be meaningless if it prompts youths to bank on the government all the time instead of working hard," Wong warned.

In 2013, Lee also donated a site at Lam Tei in Tuen Mun to Pok Oi Hospital to develop an elderly care center. The project has already been approved by the government and is expected to be completed by 2017.

Contact the writer at agnes@chinadailyhk.com and felix@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/16/2015 page8)