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13 HOUSING

HONG KONG'S housing has been transformed over the past 20 years. More than 1.2 million public and private flats have been built. Many of the older public rental housing estates have been redeveloped. Today, more than half the population lives in public housing compared with 1.7 million in 1975. Some 41 per cent live in increasingly modern rental flats and about 10 per cent in flats provided under various home ownership schemes. Since 1978, the government has built about 215 000 sub- sidised flats for sale. As a result, the overall home ownership rate has risen to 52 per cent, compared with 35 per cent a decade ago.

In 1995, the public sector produced about 32 500 flats, of which about 15 200 were for sale, and the private sector produced 22 600 flats.

The government introduced legislation to regulate the operation of estate agents and embarked on a major review of its long-term housing strategy.

Housing Policy

The government's policy is to help all households to have access to adequate and affordable housing. It seeks to achieve this goal:

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by providing quality public housing at reasonable rents for those who cannot afford any other type of housing and by providing sufficient land to achieve this;

by encouraging home ownership through the provision of subsidised housing or financial assistance;

by supplying enough land and facilitating private development to meet the demand for private housing; and

by monitoring the private housing market and, where necessary, introducing measures to curb speculation or to provide adequate consumer protection.

Production Targets

The government aims to produce 511 000 new flats over six years from April 1995 to April 2001, made up of:

141 000 public rental flats.

• 175 000 subsidised flats for sale (under the four home ownership schemes).

• 195 000 private housing flats.

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