Liber Research Community Explained

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.^[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. In 2020, it found 800 more village houses that were suspected to be illegally traded within the past 2 years.

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

See also

• Housing in Hong Kong
• Small House Policy

External links

• Website

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2020-10-26. Hong Kong: new 'rural villas' smack of illegal deals with developers, group says. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
2. Web site: 2020-08-31. Housing plan for brownfield sites not bold enough, think tank says. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
3. Web site: 2018-12-20. Government 'exaggerated constraints' in freeing up brownfield sites. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
4. Web site: 2018-03-15. Has an area the size of 38 Victoria Parks been excluded from land planning?. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
5. Web site: 2018-09-18. 300 hectares of government land 'underutilised or vacant'. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
6. Web site: 2018-07-12. HK$9.4bn tax revenue lost as residential property buyers dodge stamp duty via 'share transfer' - study. 2021-04-26. Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. en-GB.
7. Web site: 2021-01-04. Open plan, 'dark toilets': how nano flats have lowered Hong Kong living standards. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
8. Web site: 2021-01-31. The time to consider curbs on the building of nano flats is now. 2021-04-26. South China Morning Post. en.
9. Web site: 2021-05-03. Is there more land in Hong Kong for housing than perceived?. 2021-05-03. South China Morning Post. en.
10. Web site: 2021-06-10. Hong Kong NGOs find enough unidentified brownfield sites to build 95,000 homes. 2021-06-23. South China Morning Post. en.
11. Web site: Liber Research - Report Archive.