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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
In 2015/16, the Housing Authority (HA) will continue to focus its efforts on providing quality homes, promoting sustainable living, optimising and rationalising the use of public resources and enhancing the attractiveness of its commercial properties.
At its regular open meeting today (January 19), the HA Members endorsed the Corporate Plan for 2015/16. Based on the above four main themes, the Corporate Plan covers a total of 45 key activities and 19 key performance indicators of the Authority's work in the year.
"The 2015/16 Corporate Plan is the platform through which the HA will direct its work and concentrate its efforts in the face of multiple challenges. In December 2014, the Government announced its Long Term Housing Strategy, which adopted a supply-led strategy to meet Hong Kong's housing challenges. The HA is the major supplier of public housing in Hong Kong, and will gear up to implement the Government's Long Term Housing Strategy. In 2015/16, we will continue to closely monitor the demand for public rental housing (PRH) with the target to maintain the average waiting time at around three years for general applicants (i.e. family applicants and elderly one-person applicants). We will endeavour to work with the Government to identify suitable sites for development of both PRH flats and subsidised sale flats," a spokesman for the HA said.
Waiting time refers to the time taken between registration for PRH and the first flat offer, excluding any frozen period during the application period (e.g. when the applicant has not yet fulfilled the residence requirement, the applicant has requested to put his or her application on hold pending arrival of family members for family reunion, the applicant is imprisoned, etc). The average waiting time for general applicants refers to the average of the waiting time of general applicants who were housed to PRH in the past 12 months.
"We will also focus on enhancing safety in PRH estates and at the HA's workplaces, encouraging mutual care and support in the community, assisting those who are in financial hardship, and making cost-effective use of resources. Our funds management strategies will be regularly reviewed to ensure that they will help generate a reasonable and stable return over the long term to help meet the HA's expenditure needs," the spokesman added.
Apart from endorsing the 2015/16 Corporate Plan, the HA Members also approved the 2014/15 Revised Budget and the 2015/16 Proposed Budget, and noted the Financial Forecasts for 2016/17 to 2018/19.
The HA has projected in its latest budget and forecast exercise for the period 2014/15 to 2018/19 that it will have sufficient financial resources to meet its recurrent expenditure and implement its current public housing construction programme in the period. However, as a result of the anticipated increase in construction costs and operating costs while no rent adjustment for PRH is assumed, the HA's projected cash and investment balance will decrease significantly over the years. To achieve the new public housing production target, it is clear that the HA will come under increasing fiscal pressure in the longer term and that the Government's funding support to the HA will become necessary. The Long Term Housing Strategy announced by the Government has re-affirmed the Government's commitment to financially support the HA, and the Housing Reserve recently set up by the Government also demonstrates the Government's commitment to financially support the HA to meet the public housing supply target.
"The HA has been in discussion with the Government over the issue. The HA will continue to conduct its annual rolling five-year Budgets and Forecasts, and assess its medium-term financial projections. Given the challenges ahead, the HA must remain vigilant and exercise strict economy to make the best use of the HA's resources, and will seek funding from the Government at an appropriate time to meet the new public housing production target," the spokesman said.
Ends/Monday, January 19, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:20
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