ENG-2019 — Page 229

Chapter 12

Housing

The government's policy objectives are to provide public rental housing for low-income families to meet their basic housing needs; provide subsidised sale flats to enhance the housing ladder; and maintain the healthy and steady development of the residential market, giving priority to Hong Kong permanent residents' needs.

The Secretary for Transport and Housing oversees housing matters. He is also the Chairman of the Hong Kong Housing Authority and is supported by the Director of Housing.

The Housing Authority is a statutory body that develops and implements public housing programmes. Its vision is to provide affordable rental housing to low-income families with housing needs, and to provide subsidised sale flats (SSFs) to help low- to middle-income families achieve home ownership.

The Housing Department is the executive arm of the Housing Authority. It offers secretariat and executive support to the Housing Authority and its committees. As the Transport and Housing Bureau's housing arm, it also monitors the private market, facilitates home buyers' access to full and accurate information and oversees policy matters on the regulation of estate agents.

Hong Kong had about 2,853,300 flats at end-December 2019, comprising about 834,600 public rental units1, 419,600 SSFs2 and 1,599,100 private-sector flats. About 30 per cent and 15 per cent of the population lived in public rental units and SSFs, respectively. The Housing Authority's revised estimated housing expenditure in 2018-19 was about $32 billion, or 5.6 per cent of public expenditure.

Long Term Housing Strategy

The government's Long Term Housing Strategy principles to address the housing supply- demand imbalance are 'supply-led' and 'flexible:

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Comprising public rental housing and interim housing flats under the Housing Authority and rental flats under the Hong Kong Housing Society.

Excluding 322 flats provided by the Urban Renewal Authority on a one-off basis in 2015-16.

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