Up to 12,000 public housing flats could be built on land currently used as part of an exclusive golf site in northern Hong Kong which is set to be returned to authorities next year, the government has proposed.

The proposal to redevelop 32 hectares of the 172-hectare Fanling site, leased to the Hong Kong Golf Club, was among several controversial recommendations made by government advisers in 2018 to increase land supply to solve the city’s housing crunch.