Winnie Ho expects light public homes finished on time; says govt obtains results in combating abuse

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin expects some 30,000 light public housing units to be finished on time before 2027, saying that the government has obtained results in combating abuse of public homes. 

Ho also said that the government plans to abandon the Sheung Shui Lin Tong Mei site originally included in the second batch of units. 

She cited the Architectural Services Department’s findings that the sewage facilities will have to be rebuilt and the transportation network is poor, leading to a hefty increase in development costs, as well as the site being able to provide only about 1,100 units. 

Ho continued that the Development Bureau called a few months ago and said they retrieved a plot of land located on Hang Kwong Street in Ma On Shan, which was used as a secondary school sports venue on a short-term lease. 

The Hang Kwong Street site, plus five school sites that are vacant or will be vacant soon, will be able to provide more units to fill the vacancies left from canceling the Lin Tong Mei site, Ho noted. 

Four of the schools are still operating and two can commence construction work in mid-2024. Ho also said the construction work will be relatively easier as the school buildings need not to be demolished. 

Workers will only need to add walls to separate the units and build independent toilets, as the construction is expected to last for nine months to a year. 

On another note, Ho said the government earlier sent a form to some 88,000 public rental housing residents to declare if they own other local properties, and some 90 percent of the forms has been returned. 

The remaining 1,700 forms will be followed up by the Housing Authority, Ho said. She pointed out that 20 households voluntarily returned their units to the government for a variety of reasons. 

As for the 0.3 year quarter-on-quarter increase in the average waiting time for public homes, Ho said some 3,500 units became available in the past quarter. She also said some people are still “blindly waiting” as they are more inclined to take a flat located in town centers. 

The goal to set the average waiting time for a public home at six years remains unchanged, Ho also said. The average waiting time is currently 5.6 years in the third quarter this year.