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Thursday, October 11, 1973
EMPLOYERS CAN HELP STAFF BUY FLATS HOUSING SECRETARY
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Mr. Ian Lightbody, Secretary for Housing, today (Thursday)
encouraged employers to lend their staff money to make substantial
downpayments to buy flats in the private sector.
Speaking at the Personnel Management Club luncheon, Mr. Lightbody
said that years ago the government introduced a scheme in which employers
could buy land from the government at one-third the market value to build
accommodation for employees. A few big firms took advantage of this
concession but, over the years, the scheme had virtually died, mainly
because of the scarcity of suitable sites and their high value.
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Today if employers seek to assist their staff in any way to
get a decent roof over their heads, some other approach is needed," he said.
The Hong Kong Building and Loan Agency, he said, offered mortgage
funds over a 12-year repayment period at 10 per cent interest. But land
prices had shot up over the past year- although they had started to drift
back and building costs were now around $90 a square foot of floor space.
"Although the sale price of small flats has dropped by 20 to 25 por cent
since the peak reached by the beginning of the year, the price will still
be beyond the means of many lower middle-income families who are too well-off
to be eligible for public housing and not sufficiently well-off to be able
to fend for themselves in the private sector," he said.
Families