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Housing
projection annually and generate a rolling ten-year housing supply target to reflect changes in circumstances.
Housing Policy
The government provides PRH to those with low income who cannot afford private rental accommodation mainly through the Hong Kong Housing Authority(HKHA)2, with the target of providing a first flat offer to general applicants (ie family and single elderly one-person applicants) by around three years on average.
The HKHA has a rolling public housing construction programme to achieve the public housing supply target. According to the latest programme released in December 2014, about 77,100 PRH flats and 10,600 Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats will be built over the five years from 2014-15.
The government's policy is to maintain the healthy and stable development of the private property market. As at end December, the government estimates that the supply of first-hand. private residential flats for the coming three to four years is approximately 74,000 units.
The Steering Committee on Housing Land Supply, chaired by the Financial Secretary, pro- actively co-ordinates the overall plans for development and supply of land in Hong Kong for various uses, and adjusts land supply in response to changes in demand.
Institutional Framework
The Secretary for Transport and Housing is responsible for housing matters, assisted by the Director of the Housing Department, and is also the HKHA's chairman.
The Housing Department has both policy and operational responsibilities for providing PRH. It provides secretariat and executive support to the HKHA and its committees. The Transport and Housing Bureau's housing arm monitors developments in the private housing market, ensures home buyers have access to accurate, comprehensive and transparent property transaction information, and oversees policy matters relating to the regulation of estate agents.
Public Rental Housing
As at end-December 2014, about 2.11 million people, or 29 per cent of Hong Kong's population, live in public rental units of the HKHA and Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS)3.
The revised estimated HKHA housing expenditure in 2013-14 is $20.7 billion, or approximately 4.5 per cent of public expenditure. At the end of December 2014, there were about 133,700
2
3
The HKHA is a statutory body responsible for implementing the majority of Hong Kong's public housing programmes. The HKHA provides PRH to low income families who cannot afford private rental accommodation and Home Ownership Scheme flats to low to middle-income families. It also runs interim housing and transit centres to provide temporary accommodation to families facing short-term problems in finding suitable accommodation.
The HKHS is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. One of its major functions is to provide subsidised housing to specific target groups at affordable rents.
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