Housing ladder must avoid duplication, housing chief says

The government must strike a balance when refining Hong Kong’s housing ladder to avoid duplication among different forms of subsidized housing, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said on Monday.

Her remarks came after lawmakers asked at a Legislative Council Panel on Housing meeting whether the administration would revive the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme or work with developers, including MTR Corporation, on more Starter Homes for Hong Kong Residents projects.

Ho said introducing too many housing categories could create overlap within the public housing system or fail to respond effectively to changing social needs.

She said the government already had measures to help younger residents buy homes, including granting additional ballot chances to applicants under 40 for Home Ownership Scheme flats.

An average of about 12,000 subsidized sale flats will also be put on the market each year, she added.

With a substantial increase in HOS supply and the rollout of starter home projects, Ho said the current situation differed significantly from the past, when many households faced long waits for public housing because there were fewer middle-tier housing options.

Separately, the Housing Bureau has appointed a consultant to design a comprehensive public questionnaire on the possible relaunch or expansion of the Tenants Purchase Scheme.

The scheme allows eligible public rental housing tenants to buy the flats they occupy at discounted prices, with the aim of promoting home ownership.

Ho said the survey would gather views from different sectors of the community, with the findings to be released in due course.

On proposals in the Policy Address to increase the proportion of larger units in subsidized sale-flat developments in the Northern Metropolis, Ho said units of about 45 square meters were considered relatively large for HOS housing.

She said the authorities would therefore increase the share of such units in relevant projects.

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