The 2014-15 Land Sale Program will include 34 residential sites capable of providing about 15, 500 housing units, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang said on Wednesday.

Tsang told lawmakers at the city's Legislative Council in his budget speech that to address the demand for land in the short, medium and long term, the government plans to increase housing land supply with a view to achieving the target of providing 470, 000 residential flats in the coming 10 years.

Tsang announced that together with other development projects, the total housing land supply from different sources will be capable of providing about 18,000 private residential units, falling short of the original annual average target of 20,000 units, mainly due to slower than expected progress in railway property development projects, projects of the Urban Renewal Authority and projects subject to lease modification/land exchange.

"So far we have identified 150 sites for residential use which, if their statutory plans could all be successfully amended, are expected to be made available over the next five years to provide about 210,000 public and private units," Tsang said.

"We expect that the average annual target of land supply for private housing can be met in the coming financial year."

According to the financial chief, public housing takes up 60 percent of the new housing target. The government will ensure that the Housing Authority will have an estimated balance of 68 billion HK dollars at the end of this financial year, "the sum can meet the funding requirement of the development program for the next four years."