Home supply boost for 10-year target A government plan to add 10,000 new flats to the 480,000 units planned as part of a 10-year target has been criticized by concern groups for being insufficient. However, property developers and agents welcome the move. Midland Realty chief analyst Buggle Lau Ka-fai said the additional 1,000 units a year may not seem a lot, but it reflects government determination to increase the supply of public housing to meet market demand. Lau also said the revised target of 488,000 units represents a 69 percent jump from the total supply from 2004-2013, with public homes increasing 84 percent and private homes 49 percent. Secretary for Housing Anthony Cheung Bing- leung said 300,000 units will be public or subsidized flats. Under the Long-Term Housing Strategy report released yesterday, 290,000 units must be provided to meet the public housing target instead of the 280,000 proposed for 2013-2023. The housing bureau will provide 200,000 public rental housing units and 90,000 subsidized sale flats. The 10,000 additional flats will all be subsidized housing and the figure will be reviewed every year. The public and private split will remain at 60:40 for the 10-year period starting from 2015-16. The private housing supply target will remain at 190,000 units over the 10 year-period. The Long-Term Housing Strategy set out the main strategies, including construction of more public rental housing units and ensure the rational use of existing stock; provide more subsidized sale flats, expand the forms of subsidized home ownership and facilitate the market circulation of existing stock. The government also aims to stabilize the residential property market through steady land supply and appropriate demand management measures, and to promote good sales and tenancy practices for private residential properties. Cheung said the government would consider expanding the existing subsidized flat schemes. Subsidized home ownership is an essential element of the housing ladder which helps promote social mobility, he added. Apart from building flats under the Home Ownership Scheme the government will consider how to expand the forms of subsidized home ownership, and leverage on the private sectors capacity to increase the supply of subsidized sale flats. Labour Party leader Lee Cheuk-yan branded the report as useless because it fails to resolve the current housing problem.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 07:26:58 +0000
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