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Housing
Housing for People with Special Needs
Elderly singles can apply for PRH under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme, and can share a flat with unrelated elderly people under the Elderly Persons Priority Scheme.
The average waiting time for elderly one-person applicants was about 2.6 years in end- December. Harmonious Families Schemes encourage families to live with their elderly relatives in PRH estates to facilitate mutual care.
Private-Sector Housing
To ensure the healthy and stable development of the residential market, the government monitors the residential market and is alert to the risks of a property bubble. To this end, it has increased land supply, combated speculative activities, managed demand for homes, increased the transparency of transactions and prevented excessive expansion in mortgage lending.
To address the overheated market, the government further enhanced ad valorem stamp duty on residential property transactions in November 2016, after enhancing Special Stamp Duty and introducing Buyer's Stamp Duty in 2012, and doubling the ad valorem stamp duty in 2013. These demand-side management measures aim to curtail speculative activities, external demand and investment demand, to ensure the healthy and stable development of the market, and accord priority to the home ownership needs of Hong Kong permanent residents amid a tight housing supply.
Sale of First-hand Residential Properties
The Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance and the work of the Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority (SRPA) have enhanced the transparency and fairness of sales in first-hand homes, strengthened consumer protection and provided a level playing field for vendors. Since the ordinance took effect in 2013, the SRPA has conducted about 26,500 examinations on sales-related documents and about 2,950 site inspections to sales offices and show flats.
Estate Agents
The practice and conduct of estate agents, who handle the vast majority of residential transactions, are governed by the Estate Agents Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation. Individuals or companies engaging in estate agency work must obtain a licence from the Estate Agents Authority (EAA). As at end-December, individual and corporate licence holders numbered about 37,300 and about 3,400, respectively. The EAA's main functions include issuing licences, promulgating best practices, conducting inspections, investigating complaints, imposing penalties on licensees who break the rules, providing training and promoting
consumer education.
Websites
Hong Kong Housing Authority/Housing Department: www.housingauthority.gov.hk Hong Kong Housing Society: www.hkhs.com
Transport and Housing Bureau: www.thb.gov.hk
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