Written by 
Hong Kong will give people aged under 40 a leg-up towards owning their own homes by allocating them an extra vote in the ballot for subsidised flats, Chief Executive John Lee said.
Lee announced the new measure in his third Policy Address on Wednesday, along with other measures to help young people find their own place to live.
“The Hong Kong Housing Authority will allocate an extra ballot number to young family applicants and one‑person applicants aged below 40 with White Form status for the purchase of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats from the next HOS sale exercise onwards,” Lee said.
Starting from the next White Form Secondary Market Scheme exercise, the Housing Authority will also allocate 1,500 extra flats for young family applicants and one-person applicants under the age of 40, Lee announced.
See also: Hong Kong to phase out subdivided units under 8 sq. metres, but ‘coffin homes’ to stay
The move comes amid government calls for young people not to “lie flat” by keeping their income below the limit allowed for public housing. Lee, this July, urged young people to strive towards their aspirations and to reconsider settling for a subsidised rental flat.
“Lying flat” is a term that originated in mainland China to describe disaffected youngsters who disengage from society by doing only the bare minimum required.
Hong Kong families with a maximum gross monthly income of HK$60,000 and assets worth HK$1.23 million or below, or single-person households earning half that amount, are eligible to join the Home Ownership Scheme.
Better odds
A Housing Bureau source told HKFP the extra ballots for young applicants would give them a better chance of buying an HOS flat, though families with newborns and elderly members would still get higher priority.
Applicants who failed to purchase a subsidised flat in the last two consecutive sales would also be given an extra ballot, according to a supplement to Lee’s address.
The supplement also stated that the 70:30 split between public rental flats and subsidised sale flats would be adjusted to a 60:40 ratio. But that would not affect the government’s goal of bringing the waiting time for public housing down to 4.5 years, as the government was building more of both types of housing, the bureau source said.
Lee also said the government would speed up its Youth Hostel Scheme, which converts hotels and guesthouses into affordable accommodation for young working residents, “in response to our young people’s aspirations to have their own living space[.]”
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
Source link