Latest waiting time for Hong Kong public housing down to 5.7 years

The Housing Authority said on Friday that the average wait for a public housing flat as of the end of March has been shortened from 5.8 to 5.7 years.

The average waiting time for elderly individual applicants, meanwhile, has reduced by 0.2 years to 3.8 years. 

In the first quarter of 2024, about 5,300 general applicants were housed to public rental housing (PRH), about 780 of which were elderly one-person applicants. On the other hand, about 740 non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System were housed to public rental housing in the same quarter.

The authority said of the 5,300 general applicants housed to PRH, about 2,800 were housed to refurbished flats.

“Although there were fewer refurbished flats available for allocation over the last quarter, we did endeavor to expedite the allocation of new PRH flats and about 2,500 general applicants were housed to new PRH flats at Fu Tip Estate.

“Given that the average waiting time of PRH applicants for flats in the New Territories is generally shorter than those in Urban or Extended Urban districts by about a year, the relatively shorter waiting time of the above-mentioned PRH applicants was thus reflected in the average waiting time in this quarter. As a result, the average waiting time in the first quarter of 2024 slightly reduced by 0.1 years to 5.7 years.” It said.

Meanwhile, the Housing Authority said a number of its new PRH projects will be completed gradually and intake at some Home Ownership Scheme and Green Form Home Ownership Scheme projects will also take place within this and the coming year.

“Together with our continuous efforts to combat tenancy abuse, we will endeavor to provide PRH flats for allocation by adopting a three-pronged approach,” it added.

However, the Authority said the delay of PRH projects by “Aggressive Construction Company Limited” and its impact on the average waiting time as mentioned in the last quarter will take several quarters to be absorbed.

Under these circumstances, it is expected that the average waiting time in 2024 will remain steady in general but may still have slight fluctuations between quarters, said the Authority.