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Pursuant to the Government's policy, the principal mission of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA)2 is to provide subsidised public rental housing to those who cannot afford rented accommodation in the private market. It has ceased the provision of home ownership assistance schemes and divested itself of its 180 retail and car parking facilities through the listing of The Link Real Estate Investment Trust in November 2005.

Institutional Framework

The Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands is the Principal Official responsible. for overall housing matters. He has also been appointed Chairman of the HKHA to help forge closer cooperation between the HKHA and the Government in the provision of public housing services. He is supported by the Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Housing), who also assumes the office of the Director of Housing and heads the Housing Department.

The Housing Department integrates the policy and operational responsibilities of providing public rental housing and assessing eligibility for public housing assistance. It continues to provide secretariat and executive support to the HKHA and its committees. The department also monitors developments in the private housing market and oversees policy matters relating to the regulation of estate agents.

Public Rental Housing

The Government ensures that all those who cannot afford adequate accommodation in the private market have access to subsidised public rental housing. It is committed to maintaining an average waiting time for public rental housing at around three years and ensuring that there is adequate supply through a rolling construction programme run by the HKHA. The actual number of units to be built is adjusted regularly to take into account factors including the housing demand of low-income families and the turnover in tenancies.

At present, about 2 097 800 people, or 30 per cent of Hong Kong's population, live in public rental housing estates of the HKHA and the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS)3. The revised estimate of the HKHA's expenditure on housing in 2006-07 was 14.5 billion, accounting for approximately 5.9 per cent of public expenditure. At year- end, there were 106 600 households on the waiting list for the HKHA's public rental housing and the average waiting time was about 1.9 years.

2 The HKHA, established in 1973, is a statutory body responsible for implementing the majority of Hong Kong's public housing programmes. The HKHA provides public rental housing to low-income families which cannot afford private rental accommodation. 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 established in 1948. It provides subsidised housing to specific target groups at affordable rents.

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208 Housing