Almost 60pc of successful public housing applicants waited over six years

Sixty percent of those who were assigned public housing flats recently have waited for more than six years, latest statistics have shown. 

According to a Housing Authority document, about 15,800 citizens were assigned a public rental housing unit between July 2020 and June this year. 

Among the successful applicants, only 10.7 percent, or about 1,700, were allocated a flat in three years or less because they applied under the elderly persons priority scheme or the express flat allocation scheme.

About 58 percent of applicants, or 9,100, waited over six years before their applications were approved – a 68.5 percent jump when compared with the same period last year. 

As of June this year, about 77,000 people with pending applications have waited for over three years – around half of the total number of applicants. 

Around 20,000 applicants have already waited for over six years, marking a 42 percent increase year-on-year. 

The Authority said there are many reasons that applicants have to wait more than six years before being allocated a flat, citing the use of Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan as a quarantine facility in 2020. Fai Ming Estate was also damaged over a disruption in January 2020. 

The average queuing time for public housing was 5.9 years, shown by statistics as of September this year.