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CHAPTER 12 HOUSING

HOUSING in Hong Kong has undergone major changes over the past two decades. More than 1.3 million public and private flats have been built. Public rental housing now accommodates about 2.3 million people (34 per cent of the population) compared with 1.7 million in 1975. Since 1978, the government has built more than 260 000 subsidised flats for sale under various home ownership schemes. The joint efforts of the government and the private sector have lifted the overall home ownership rate to 52 per cent, compared with 33 per cent 17 years ago. In 1998, the public sector produced about 35 000 flats, of which about 21 000 were for sale, and the private sector produced 22 000 flats.

Hong Kong now has some 2 026 000 flats and houses; 1 066 000 in the private sector and 960 000 in the public sector.

Housing Policy

The government's housing policy objectives are to reduce the number of inadequately housed people, to help all households gain access to adequate and affordable housing and to encourage home ownership in the community.

To ensure that its policy objectives can be achieved, the government will:

• assess housing demand regularly and accurately;

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provide a sufficient supply of land, together with supporting infrastructure, shorten development procedures and relieve constraints in the construction industry;

⚫ draw up and maintain a long-term flat production programme and put in place an

efficient mechanism for monitoring progress and problem solving;

• create the conditions to enable the private sector to make the fullest possible contribution towards meeting the demand for housing, while at the same time monitoring the private property market and, if necessary, taking measures to prevent drastic fluctuations in flat prices and to discourage property speculation; implement subsidised housing schemes to enable those in the relevant income groups to buy their own homes;

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provide public housing at reasonable rents to those who cannot afford any other type of housing; and

implement initiatives to address the housing requirements of groups in special

need.