************************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority (HA)'s Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) endorsed today (September 12) the sale of the 832 remaining Surplus Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats and the details of the sale, as well as the implementation arrangements for the New HOS.
A spokesman for the HA said, "To address the pressing home ownership aspiration of the community, we will release the 832 remaining Surplus HOS flats for sale in early 2013. As these flats are part of the existing HOS stock, we will apply the implementation arrangements of the traditional HOS for their sale, including setting of price and premium payment, etc. The SHC previously discussed the implementation details for the sale of the New HOS. At that time some members already suggested to adhere to the arrangements under the traditional HOS. There were also diverse views in the community. The public generally consider that arrangements for the traditional HOS have been working effectively over the years and are well known to the public. Adhering to the premium arrangements under the traditional HOS can also address the concerns of the existing HOS flat owners on having two methods to calculate the premium payable. Taking into account the various views, on balance the SHC has agreed to adhere to the arrangements under the traditional HOS for the sale of future HOS flats."
"Most of the 800 plus flats are in Tin Chung Court in Tin Shui Wai. Since the HA's dispute over management fees with the owners of Tin Chung Court may lead to litigation proceedings and affect title, the HA will make full disclosure of the dispute and the consequence of the potential encumbrance on title in the sale documents, particularly in the sales brochures and the Agreements for Sale and Purchase. The HA will bear the sums ordered by the Court in relation to the management fee dispute or agreed to be paid by the HA in a settlement thereof," the spokesman said.
As in past practice, to take into account the latest economic data, the actual flat prices, the allocation ratio between Green Form (GF) and White Form (WF) applicants, as well as the income and asset limits for the WF applicants will be decided about one month prior to the sale of the remaining Surplus HOS flats and for future HOS flats.
On the other hand, the SHC also endorsed the implementation details of the interim scheme to allow buyers with WF status to purchase HOS flats with premium not yet paid on the HOS secondary market. The details include the invitation for applications for the first round of 5 000 quota in January 2013, and the allocation of the quota in two batches of 2 500. There will be two categories of applicants, namely, families and singletons. In case of over-subscription, ballot will be drawn and an allocation ratio for family to singleton applicants at 9:1 will be set. The established formula for deriving the income and asset limits under traditional HOS will be employed to calculate the income and asset limits for the target group, while the actual income and asset limits will be put up for endorsement by the SHC about one month before invitation for applications, in order to take into account the latest economic statistics.
"In view of the public's concerns on possible speculative activities after the extension of the HOS secondary market to cover WF buyers, the SHC has endorsed the introduction of additional resale restrictions to WF buyers under the scheme. Taking reference from the existing resale restrictions under the traditional HOS, the SHC has agreed to stipulate that the WF buyers are not allowed to sell their flats with premium not yet paid on the HOS secondary market in the first two years after the WF buyers have purchased the flats, so as to prevent speculative activities on the secondary market that would affect the GF buyers. But in accordance with the current practice, WF buyers will be allowed to sell their flats on the open market upon paying the premium. After the flat owner has paid the premium, the flat will no longer be a subsidised flat but a private flat, and therefore this will not affect the operation of the HOS secondary market. We believe that the additional resale restrictions, together with the Special Stamp Duty, should be effective in preventing speculation after extending the HOS secondary market to the WF buyers. The HA will keep in close view implementation of the scheme and review the arrangements as necessary," the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, in view of a continuous supply of newly completed public rental housing flats in the Urban District in the next few years, the SHC also approved that Waiting List applicants registered on or before September 30, 2011 can change their choice of district to the Urban District if they so wish.
"Letters inviting applications will be sent out to applicants concerned. They will be reminded that the actual waiting time for flats in the Urban District depends on various factors, including the number of applicants changing their choice of district to the Urban District, as well as the number of newly completed and recovered flats in the Urban District. Furthermore, as regards the newly completed flats, the majority are units for allocation to two-person and three-person households. Applicants should carefully consider their family circumstances before making a decision. Upon changing the district of choice, they may also in the future switch back to their original district of choice or change to other districts according to their needs," the spokesman said.
Ends/Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Issued at HKT 20:23
NNNN
