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Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, in the Legislative Council today (March 9):
Question:
When announcing the launch of the "My Home Purchase Plan" ("MHPP") last year, the Government indicated that sites in Tsing Yi, Diamond Hill, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and other areas had been earmarked for MHPP and that applications for pre-letting for the first project could take place starting from 2012. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) for each of the sites earmarked for MHPP, of the specific location, site area, expected completion dates for foundation works and site formation works, expected commencement date for superstructure construction, expected building completion date, and expected number of residential units to be provided;
(b) given that the Financial Secretary announced in the Budget published this year that applications for the first project could commence next year, whether the Government can invite applications for pre-letting in the first quarter of next year; and
(c) when the authorities expect the remaining four projects will invite applications for pre-letting; what factors that the development progress of these projects will be subject to, and whether there are ways to expedite their development progress; if there are, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider turning some of the unsold sites which have remained on the Application List for a long time into sites for building MHPP flats?
Reply:
President,
The Government announced in October 2010 that it would in collaboration with the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) introduce "My Home Purchase Plan" (MHPP) which was premised on the concept of "rent-and-buy". MHPP will more effectively target at households which have home purchase plans and the ability to pay mortgages in the long run, but which cannot immediately afford the down payment in the face of short-term property price fluctuations, and will facilitate them to save up over a period of time for home purchase. Under MHPP, the Government will provide land for HKHS to build "no-frills" small and medium-sized flats for lease to eligible applicants at prevailing market rent. The tenancy period will be up to five years, within which the rent will not be adjusted. Within a specified time frame, MHPP tenants may purchase a MHPP flat at prevailing market price, or a flat in the private market. They will receive a Purchase Subsidy equivalent to half of the net rental they have paid during the tenancy period, and may use it for part of the down payment. Also, MHPP helps increase the supply of "no-frills" small and medium-sized private residential flats.
My reply to the three parts of the question is as below:
(a) and (b) The first MHPP project at Tsing Luk Street will provide about 1,000 small and medium-sized "no-frills" units. Our plan is to invite applications for pre-letting in 2012 and that the project will be completed in 2014. Also, we undertake to discuss with HKHS to start the pre-letting exercise as soon as possible. HKHS will announce the application period and other details for the Tsing Luk Street project when the preparatory work is completed.
The second MHPP project will be located at Sha Tin Area 36C, near Siu Lik Yuen. Depending on the flat sizes, about 700 small and medium-sized flats may be built on the site. The exact number of flats to be built will have to be worked out after further study. The Government will work out with HKHS the implementation details for the Sha Tin project as soon as possible.
(c) The Government has already earmarked sites in Tsing Yi, Sha Tin, Diamond Hill, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and other areas aiming for a total of some 5,000 flats to be built under MHPP. We will expedite the preparatory work as far as possible so that the projects can be implemented as early as possible. If the response to MHPP is good, the Government will identify more suitable sites for MHPP.
Ends/Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:34
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