Hong Kong announces measures to tackle housing affordability crisis

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee announced measures aimed at tackling the city’s housing shortage, calling it a “public concern” in an annual policy speech on Wednesday.

One key policy announced in his speech will look at providing an easier way of subsidized housing for residents under 40 amid growing concerns about their ability to find a place in the city’s crowded housing market.

Under the scheme, the Hong Kong Housing Authority will give an additional voting number to applicants under the age of 40 – a move that will increase their chances of being selected for apartments in the city-sponsored Home Ownership Scheme.

The government will also increase its share of the “White Form Secondary Market Scheme” – where second-hand subsidized houses can be bought and sold without land charge – by 1,500, all reserved for applicants under 40 years of age. Only 4,500 households were eligible. of apartments under the scheme by 2023.

The move comes amid reports and fears that young Hong Kongers in the city may reject promotions and pay higher fees to qualify for public housing rather than enter the private market.

To further address the housing shortage for youth, the government will continue its Youth Hostel Program, which funds non-governmental organizations by renting hotels and hostels for use as youth hostels.

The Demographia International Housing Affordability Report 2024 has ranked the city as the most affordable place to find a home for more than a decade. The city’s more than 100,000 apartments are divided into “shoe sizes”, linked to health and safety issues, which are often used to drive home this fact.

Lee said on Wednesday the city will launch a new plan to rent separate apartments, with “low-rise” units to be converted into “Basic Housing Units” that meet new requirements such as windows, bathrooms and sizes larger than 86 square feet.

He also said that the government expects to complete about 9,500 new public houses next year, moving towards the goal of completing about 30,000 houses by 2027-2028.

The current waiting time for a public housing unit in Hong Kong is 5.5 years. According to Lee, the waiting time can be reduced to 4.5 years by 2026-2027.

The policy speech Wednesday was Lee’s third in his five-year term, and it focused more on improving the lives of residents and strengthening the city’s economy than ever before.

Previous speeches have focused on issues of national security and post-pandemic recovery, with Lee taking over the city after a period of chaos that led to the Covid-19 pandemic.