(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong is set to take over part of an iconic golf course to build homes as the city grapples with a housing shortage.

The Executive Council, the government’s cabinet, endorsed all the proposals suggested by a government-appointed panel to tackle the city’s residential housing crisis, the South China Morning Post reported Wednesday, citing people it didn’t identify. Among the most high-profile: reclaiming 32 hectares (79 acres) of the Hong Kong Golf Club’s venerable site in Fanling.

Other options that were endorsed included developing private agricultural land, building on deserted rural plots and recreational sites, utilizing underground space, and reclaiming land from the sea.

Hong Kong, the world’s least affordable housing market, has long been plagued by land issues, with an estimated current residential shortfall of more than 1,200 hectares. The problem is particularly acute now because new land supply is at an eight-year low, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

For more: Hong Kong Eyes Sea, Golf Courses to Solve Chronic Housing Crisis

The Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling is home to three 18-hole courses and practice facilities. The decision to take back some of its 172 hectares strikes a balance between boosting housing supply and the need to continue hosting international golf tournaments, the newspaper said. It added the site has been leased to the Hong Kong Golf Club by the government for about HK$2.4 million ($305,800) a year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shawna Kwan in Hong Kong at wkwan35@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Paul Panckhurst

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