Public housing applicants waited almost 6 years for accommodation

The average waiting time for public housing has increased to a record 5.9 years, according to latest statistics announced by the Housing Authority. 

It is almost double the target set by the authority – to provide housing to low-income families who cannot afford private rental flats at an average waiting time of three years. 

As at the end of September, the average waiting time for general applicants who were housed in public rental housing in the past 12 months was 5.9 years. Among them, the average waiting time for elderly one-person applicants was 3.8 years. 

The waiting time for both general and elderly applicants has increased by 1.2 months over the last quarter, which ended in June. 

The latest statistics show there were about 153,700 general applications for public rental housing, and about 100,800 applications from single applicants who are not elderly people. 

The Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan had said major improvements to the waiting time for public housing would only materialize in five years or more.  

The average waiting time for public housing units is expected to be shortened in 2027 at the earliest, as the government has found about 350 hectares of land and can offer around 330,000 public housing units in the next decade. 

He expected around 100,000 units will be ready in the first five-year period between next year and the year 2026/27, and the remaining 230,000 units will be offered in the second five-year period starting 2027/28.