Housing initiatives aim to give more families the opportunity to buy a flat
Two housing ladders laid out in Leung Chun-ying’s policy address seek to give a leg-up to residents who are unable to buy flats under the government’s subsidised Home Ownership Scheme.
Two housing ladders laid out in Leung Chun-ying’s policy address seek to give a leg-up to residents who are unable to buy flats under the government’s subsidised Home Ownership Scheme and cannot afford to do so in the private sector.
To achieve that, Leung hopes help will come from statutory bodies and private developers to diversify the subsidised choices for people aspiring to a share of the property pie.
The controversial idea of redeveloping the 170-hectare Fanling golf courses for housing is also back in the spotlight. The government is expected to float ideas this year on creating new towns in the northern New Territories, with an eye to bulldozing the city’s oldest fairways and the chief executive’s Fanling Lodge.
The initiatives were given much weight in Leung’s annual agenda-setting speech yesterday.
Plans are afoot for a pilot scheme offering subsidised Housing Authority flats that will be cheaper than HOS flats, which on average go for 70 per cent of market prices. More than 700,000 tenants of public rental flats are estimated to be eligible.
The government will also urge the Urban Renewal Authority and private developers, including the Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation, to provide subsidised flats.
