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Housing

quota of 2,500 places in the second half of 2015. A comprehensive review of the scheme will then be conducted.

Housing for People with Special Needs

Single elderly persons can apply for PRH under the Single Elderly Persons Priority Scheme. Unrelated elderly persons who wish to share a flat may do so under the Elderly Persons Priority Scheme. The average waiting time for elderly applicants was about 1.7 years as at December 2014. The various Harmonious Families Schemes encourage families to live with, and to take care of, their elderly relatives in PRH estates.

Completion of Housing Units

Some 21,330 residential units were completed in 2014, of which about 15,700 were private housing flats (excluding village houses) and around 5,630 public housing flats of the HKHA.

Supporting Infrastructure

The infrastructure to support housing development is provided in a programmed and structured manner. To avoid delays in housing development caused by a lack of infrastructural facilities, the government has adopted a fast-track approach to address possible problems. As at December 2012, there were nine such projects in different stages of implementation, with an estimated combined cost of about $5.5 billion.

Private Sector Housing

Private Residential Property Market

To ensure the healthy and stable development of the property market, the government monitors closely the private residential property market's development and remains alert to the risks of a property bubble. To this end, various measures have been implemented by the government, such as increasing land supply, combating speculative activities, managing demand for residential properties, increasing the transparency of property transactions, and preventing excessive expansion in mortgage lending.

To address the overheated property market, the government enhanced Special Stamp Duty and introduced Buyer's Stamp Duty in October 2012 and doubled ad valorem stamp duty in February 2013, with the relevant legislation enacted in February and July 2014 respectively. These demand-side management measures aim to combat speculative activities, ensure healthy and stable development of the property market, and accord priority to the home ownership needs of Hong Kong permanent residents in the midst of the present tight housing supply.

Sale of First-hand Residential Properties

Developers of private residential property may apply to the Director of Lands for consent to put up units for sale before completion. In approving pre-sale applications from developers, the Lands Department will require the applicants to provide, among other things, specified property information in their sales brochures and price lists.

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