Liber Research Community

Liber Research Community
Formation2009
TypeNon-governmental organization
PurposeLand Research
Location
Methodsresearch, consultancy
Websitehttps://www.liber-research.com/
Liber Research Community
Traditional Chinese本土研究社
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationBún tóu yìhn gau séh
JyutpingBun2 tou2 jin4 gau3 se5

Liber Research Community is a non-governmental organization in Hong Kong that focuses on researching land and development policies.[1]

History

The group was created in 2009 by postgraduates, including Chan Kim-ching, who studied geography and planning.[1][2]

In 2017, it released a report of about 9,800 houses in the New Territories that were suspected to be involved in the illegal trading of ding rights.[1] In 2020, it found 800 more village houses that were suspected to be illegally traded within the past 2 years.[1]

In 2018, it published a research report stating that the government had underestimated the amount of brownfield sites in the New Territories, with the government estimating 1,300 hectares, and Liber Research Community finding 1,521 hectares.[3][4] Additionally in 2018, it found that around 300 hectares of government land was underutilized.[5]

In 2019, it released research where HK $9.4 billion of stamp duty was exempted in the past 10 years, when property buyers used companies to buy and sell properties via shares transfers.[6]

In 2021, it determined that nano flats, defined as units below 260 square feet, accounted for 13% of all new units in 2019, and were the result of government policies, including the reduction the amount of windows required in an apartment.[7] SCMP later released an opinion piece based on the research, stating that construction of nano flats should be curbed.[8]

In May 2021, it released a report titled Research Report on Development Potential of Vacant Small House Land, which determined that of a total of 3,380 hectares of village-type land, 1,548.8 hectares were idle and privately owned, with a separate 932.9 hectares of idle land belonging to the government. It determined that of the 1,548.8 hectares of privately owned idle land, 149.1 hectares appeared to be scheduled for illegal development of small houses, where collusion between developers and villagers was likely.[9]

In June 2021, it released Missing Brownfields- Hong Kong Brownfields Report 2021, a collaborative report with Greenpeace East Asia where together, they found a total of 1,950 hectares of brownfield sites, 379 more hectares than the government was previously able to locate.[10]

Research topics

According to its website, it lists 5 primary research areas:

  1. Hong Kong Land Research
  2. Housing Policy Research
  3. Open Government Research
  4. Food Safety Research
  5. Hong Kong-China Relation Research

Publications

Research Reports[11]
# Year Name
1 2013 Myth and Reality: Land Problem in Hong Kong
2 2014 Tyranny of the land leasing: Case Study on the Short-Term Lease Arrangement in Mashipo, Hong Kong
3 2015 No Place for Home: New Perspectives For The Long Term Housing Strategy in Hong Kong
4 2015 Hydroponics in Focus: A Study on Hong Kong’s Emerging Hydroponics Industry
5 2016 Brownfield Sites in Hong Kong 2015: tracing causes, distributions and possible policy framework
6 2017 Leasing for the Few: Exploring Short Term Tenancy Sites by Tycoons in Hong Kong
7 2018 Research report on abuse of small house policy by selling Ding Rights
8 2018 A Study on the Development Potential of Brownfield in the New Territories
9 2018 Your Real Choice: Honest Consultation on Land Supply
10 2018 Tracking the tax dodgers:  a study on avoidance of residential property tax by share transfer in Hong Kong
11 2018 Missing Option: Research on Temporary Use and Vacant Government Land in Hong Kong
12 2018 Study on the Ownership of Fish Ponds in North West New Territories
13 2018 Brownfields in Time: Tracing the course of Brownfields expansion in the New Territories
14 2020 Abuse of the Small House Policy: Revisited 2020
15 2021 A decade of compression- Hong Kong nano-flat study 2010-2019
16 2021 Research Report on Development Potential of Vacant Small House Land
17 2021 Missing Brownfields- Hong Kong Brownfields Report 2021
Books
# Year Name ISBN
1 2013 不是土地供應 - 香港土地問題的迷思與真象 978-988-12005-0-1
2 2016 棕跡 978-988-14095-2-2

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Hong Kong: new 'rural villas' smack of illegal deals with developers, group says". South China Morning Post. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Housing plan for brownfield sites not bold enough, think tank says". South China Morning Post. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Government 'exaggerated constraints' in freeing up brownfield sites". South China Morning Post. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Has an area the size of 38 Victoria Parks been excluded from land planning?". South China Morning Post. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. ^ "300 hectares of government land 'underutilised or vacant'". South China Morning Post. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  6. ^ "HK$9.4bn tax revenue lost as residential property buyers dodge stamp duty via 'share transfer' - study". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Open plan, 'dark toilets': how nano flats have lowered Hong Kong living standards". South China Morning Post. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ^ "The time to consider curbs on the building of nano flats is now". South China Morning Post. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Is there more land in Hong Kong for housing than perceived?". South China Morning Post. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Hong Kong NGOs find enough unidentified brownfield sites to build 95,000 homes". South China Morning Post. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Liber Research - Report Archive".