Subsidised flats to be sold at 65%of market rate under Hong Kong gov’t partnership with private developers
Hong Kong Free Press
Some 2,300 subsidised flats built by private developers will be sold at 65 per cent of the market price, authorities have announced.
The pilot scheme was first unveiled by Chief Executive John Lee during his maiden policy address last year, as part of an effort to revive a two-decade old partnership between the government and developers.
Quantity, speed, efficiency, quality
Speaking at a Tuesday press conference, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said the Private Subsidised Sale Flat pilot scheme would leverage public-private partnerships and tap into market forces to enhance quantity, speed, efficiency, and quality.
“Launching the Pilot Scheme can help enhance the construction capacity, save time required for development, and unleash development potential of private land. These subsidised sale flats built by private developers are of the same rung as Home Ownership Scheme flats in the housing ladder,” she said.
Ho added that the government has set key parameters for the scheme, including requirements on pricing, land premiums, flat size, flat quality, and eligibility criteria for buyers.
The housing chief’s remarks followed Lee’s announcement in the morning in which he said that bringing back the partnership would help ease the housing crunch by increasing the supply of discounted flats.
A similar partnership introduced in 1977 known as the Private Sector Participation Scheme was axed in 2002.
Discount flats
Flats under the pilot scheme will be sold at 65 per cent of the market rate, a reference to flat prices under the Home Ownership Scheme. The scheme is the government’s subsidised-sale public housing programme.
At least 70 per cent of flats under the pilot programme must have a floor area of more than 34.8 square meters, or 375 feet, and all flats must have an area of more than 26 square meters, or around 280 square feet, Ho said on Tuesday.
She added that the government had identified two sites for tender under the scheme: a 1.4-hectare site in Tung Chung’s Area 122, providing around 1,600 subsidised flats, and a 0.5-hectare site on Cheung Man Road in Chai Wan, which provides around 700 flats.
The Tung Chung site will be opened for tender by the end of 2023, followed by the Chai Wan site by March next year, according to a Housing Bureau statement issued on Tuesday. For residential developments, developers will only be required to pay a third of the market value land premium.
As an additional safeguard, developers will also be required to employ an independent checker to conduct inspections. The new scheme will not feature a buyback system from the government in a bid to incentivise high-quality construction.
According to the Centaline Property Centa-City Monthly Index, house prices have soared fivefold since a dip in 2003, outpacing household incomes. Last July, China’s Xi Jinping called on the city’s administration to build bigger homes for residents.
Lee also announced the Light Public Housing (LPH) scheme last year, promising 30,000 units in the coming five years. However, a non-pro-establishment legislator and civil society groups criticised his key initiative as failing to tackle the housing crisis.
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