Average waiting time for Hong Kong public housing rises to 5.7 years

The average waiting time for public housing has risen to 5.7 years for general applicants – a record high.

According to the Housing Authority, as of the end of December 2020, there were about 153,900 general applications for public rental housing, and about 99,500 non-elderly single-person applications.

The average waiting time for general applicants has risen to 5.7 years, along with the average waiting time for elderly single-person applicants to 3.4 years, both waiting times has increased by 0.1 years more from last quarter.

The Authority said the reason for the increase is mainly because Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan was used as a quarantine center for most of the time in 2020 and Fai Ming Estate in Fanling was seriously vandalized and damaged in early 2020, with flat allocation for these two estates could not be conducted as scheduled.

“In addition, public rental housing allocation earlier was affected by the development of COVID-19 pandemic to a certain extent,” said the Authority.

As the intake formalities for the public rental housing units allocated through advance allocation in Chun Yeung Estate and Fai Ming Estate have been completed, and the overall allocation work has gradually resumed normal, the authority will endeavor to expedite the allocation procedures so as to minimize the impact on the progress of allocation.