Mortgage rules relaxed as govt plans land sales for building 8,000 homes: FS

First-time home buyers can buy private flats priced at HK$10 million or below with a 90 percent mortgage plan, instead of the existing cap at properties sold for HK$8 million, Financial SecretaryFS Paul Chan Mo-po said.   

Other citizens who are not first-time buyers can also enjoy an 80 percent mortgage loan for private homes sold at HK$12 million or less, a raise from the current cap at HK$10 million.  

"Over the years, the government has been suppressing investors' and speculators' demand for local property while striving to assist people in buying their own homes," he said.  

In 2019, authorities relaxed the mortgage insurance program to allow up to 90 percent loans for properties sold for HK$8 million for first-time home buyers, which Chan said: "Public response was positive with the property market remaining stable."  

He said the raise of caps resulted from seeing the supply of private flats in the next few years and the need to provide assistance for first-time home buyers and families seeking self-occupied "flat for flat."  

Chan said the government's land sale program in the year 2022/23 will comprise 13 plots of residential land and four commercial sites capable of providing about 8,000 homes and 300,000 square meters of commercial floor areas.  

On the Northern Metropolis mega-development plan, Chan said authorities are striving to formulate development plans for four projects in Sha Tin Technopolis, Lo Wu/Man Kam To Comprehensive Development Node, Ma Tso Lung, as well as Lau Fau Shan, Tsim Bei Tsui, and Pak Nai within two to three years.  

A HK$100 billion fund will be set aside to expedite the implementation of infrastructure works relating to land, housing, and transportation within Northern Metropolis.