The Government released today (October 31) the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2022 (the Progress Report).

     According to the established projection methodology of the Long Term Housing Strategy (LTHS), the gross total housing demand projection for the next 10-year period (i.e. 2023-24 to 2032-33) takes into account the housing demand derived from the following four components:

(i) net increase in the number of households;
(ii) households displaced by redevelopment;
(iii) inadequately housed households; and
(iv) miscellaneous factors.

     Based on the projection framework as mentioned above, and adding a margin for vacancy of private flats, the gross total housing demand for the next 10-year period is 421 000 units, hence the Government set the supply target at 430 000 units.

     "Since the LTHS in 2018, the Government has set the public/private split of new housing supply at 70:30. Balancing various considerations, including the need to increase public housing supply substantially to meet the demand and the community's demand for private housing, the Government will maintain the public/private split of 70:30 for the next 10-year period. According to this ratio, out of the total housing supply target of 430 000 units, the public housing supply target will be 301 000 units and the private housing supply target will be 129 000 units," a spokesman for the Housing Bureau said.

     "At the same time, considering that the demand for all types of public housing has remained strong, the Government will maintain the ratio between Public Rental Housing (PRH)/Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) and other subsidised sale flats (SSFs) for the 10-year period at 70:30. According to this ratio, out of the public housing supply target of 301 000 units, there will be 210 000 units for PRH/GSH and 91 000 units for other SSFs," the spokesman added.

     As announced in the 2022 Policy Address, the Government has identified sufficient land for providing about 360 000 public housing units in the coming 10-year period, an increase of about 30 000 units over the previous 10-year period, which can meet the estimated public housing demand of 301 000 units. Such supply, in terms of housing units, mainly comes from New Development Areas and major development projects, site rezoning, and other projects including development of brownfield clusters, redevelopment of the Hong Kong Housing Authority's factory estates and part of the Siu Ho Wan Depot site topside development.

     As for private housing, the Government will continue to spare no efforts in creating sufficient land to meet the private housing supply target of 129 000 units for the next 10-year period. In particular, the Government will get sufficient land ready for providing no less than 72 000 units in the coming five years through land sales and railway property developments. Together with development projects undertaken by the Urban Renewal Authority and other private land development projects, the private housing supply target should be able to be met under the LTHS. As regards the private housing supply in the shorter term, based on the latest projection as at end-September 2022, the supply of first-hand private residential flats for the coming three to four years is about 95 000 units.

     To gradually avert a supply-demand imbalance, the Government announced the LTHS in 2014. According to the "supply-led" and "flexible" strategy of the LTHS, the Government updates the long term housing demand projection annually and presents a rolling 10-year housing supply target to capture social, economic and market changes over time, and makes timely adjustments where necessary.

     The Progress Report has been uploaded onto the Housing Bureau's website. The link is www.hb.gov.hk/eng/policy/housing/policy/lths/index.html.

Ends/Monday, October 31, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:16

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