I will elaborate and explain the response of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) on the issues of land and housing policies, foreign talent and migration and financing solutions for the industry. Firstly, we welcome the Government's decision to raise the property value threshold for the $100 stamp duty from HK$3 million to HK$4 million. We believe this will help ease the financial burden on homebuyers, especially those who want to buy a starter-level flat (上車盤).
On land supply, the Government has announced that it will not release commercial land in the coming year. It will consider rezoning some commercial sites for residential purposes. The Government also plans to extend the deadline for in-situ land exchange applications at the commercial town centres in the Hung Shiu Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area. The BPA welcomes the Government's adjustment of land sale plans after closely watching the market changes.
Faced with the fiscal challenges, the BPA has persistently urged the Government to revitalise the real estate market, boost the economic momentum. We hope the Government can adopt more flexible approaches to attract developers to bid for land. For example, the Government should offer instalment payment options for land premiums or a profit-sharing model similar to the model used by the MTR Corporation. We believe these will boost the incentives of developers in bidding land.
The Government said it will further improve the New Capital Investment Entrant Scheme that is aimed to attract foreign talent. We welcome it. We have persistently suggested that the conditions for applicants under the talent scheme to invest in property should be relaxed. There is room for downward adjustment of the current threshold of transaction price of HK$50 million or above. The price ceiling could also be adjusted to tailor to the needs of different applicants to help them purchase homes in Hong Kong.
We urged the Government to continue discussions with the mainland authorities to explore a closed-loop capital control mechanism, similar to Stock Connect and Bond Connect. This will allow mainland professionals to bring funds to Hong Kong for property purchases. With the mechanism in place, it will ensure that the proceeds from property sales will be transmitted back to the mainland after those properties are sold to avoid outflows of foreign capital.
Finally, I would like to emphasise that the BPA has persistently expressed concerns to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) about the current conservative attitude of banks on lending. We urged the HKMA to work with the Hong Kong Association of Banks to address this issue. Why? This is because it will not be conducive to the development of mega-size projects such as the Northern Metropolis and district-based development if banks adopt a conservative attitude on financing.
