LCQ1: Measures to shorten waiting time for public rental housing
****************************************************************
Question:
Solving the housing problem tops the agenda of the current-term Government. Given that the average waiting time of general applicants for public rental housing (PRH) rose to 5.9 years in September 2021, the Chief Executive has set out in the 2022 Policy Address a target to build about 30 000 new Light Public Housing (LPH) units in the coming five years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the progress of construction of LPH, and whether the Government will revise the announced proposal in the light of the views of society;
(2) as there are views that the Government should, from the perspective of increasing supply, consider using public funds to purchase units of completed developments in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, so as to give people who are waiting for PRH an additional choice of returning to live on the Mainland, whether the Government will consider such proposal; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3) given that the data of the Hong Kong Housing Authority show that the number of PRH applications (including those from general applicants and non-elderly one-person applicants) has dropped from more than 280 000 cases at the end of March 2016 to about 230 000 cases at the end of September 2022, whether the Government has studied the reasons for the decrease in the number of applications and considered introducing more measures to control the number of PRH applications at source; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Solving the housing problem indeed tops the agenda of the current-term Government. As announced in the Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address, the Government will press ahead with key strategies and targets to increase public housing supply by enhancing quantity, speed, efficiency, and quality and shorten the waiting time for public housing. In the coming 10-year period from 2023-24 to 2032-33, the Government has identified sufficient land for providing about 360 000 public housing units, which can meet the public housing demand of 301 000 units within the same period. At the same time, with a view to increasing the short-term public housing supply as soon as possible to alleviate hardship faced by people who are inadequately housed, the Government will build about 30 000 units of Light Public Housing (LPH) in the coming five years. By aggregating the power of LPH and traditional public rental housing (PRH), our target is to shorten the "Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing" from 6.0 years as in June 2022 to about 4.5 years in four years' time (i.e. in 2026‑27).
My reply to the questions raised by the Hon Jimmy Ng is as follows:
(1) The Housing Bureau and Architectural Services Department are working very hard on reviewing the design of LPH, conducting more detailed technical and cost assessments on each site, as well as the transportation arrangements and works implementation strategies, etc., so as to address the views given to us earlier. We are confident that we will be able to announce the relevant details shortly.
I would like to reiterate that LPH will provide an alternative of providing about 30 000 units within a short period of time with much better living space, neighboring environment and ancillary facilities than sub-divided units in poor conditions. Coupled with its very low rent, it will provide an imperative lifeboat to those with urgent housing needs, especially families living in sub-divided units in poor conditions. Supporting LPH is equivalent to supporting the most disadvantaged in the society to get out of their difficult situations, helping them alleviate their suffering and filling the society with hope by helping them to regain confidence.
(2) We understand that the proposed initiative of purchasing properties in cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) by means of public money for housing PRH applicants aims to relieve the pressing demand for public housing in Hong Kong. However, as the eligible PRH applicants are mostly low-income families who usually have long and inflexible working hours, the location of residence is a key consideration for them. Although the existing transport infrastructure has shortened the travelling time between Hong Kong and the GBA, low-income families might not be able to afford the transportation costs commuting to Hong Kong on a daily basis.
Furthermore, many low-income families need to rely on Hong Kong's public healthcare and social welfare services and most of their children are attending schools in Hong Kong. To this end, arranging PRH applicants to live in subsidised housing in the Mainland would affect their various daily living arrangements and also pose additional economic and family burden on them. Based on the aforementioned reasons, we consider that the proposal to purchase properties in the Mainland for housing PRH applicants is unlikely to be well-received at this stage.
(3) The number of PRH applications on the waiting list is affected by a number of factors, including the number of newly registered applications, the number of applications housed to PRH and the number of cancelled applications. The number of PRH applications on the waiting list in the past six years (i.e. 2016/17 to 2021/22) is set out at Annex. The number of general applications for PRH had remained at about 150 000 cases during the above-mentioned period. As for non-elderly one-person applications, the number of cases had reduced from 128 600 in 2016/17 to 97 700 in 2021/22. The drop in the number of non-elderly one-person applications was due to the fact that the number of applications housed to PRH and those which had been cancelled exceeded the number of newly registered applications.
The Housing Authority (HA) reviews its prevailing policies from time to time in order to ensure the precious PRH resources are allocated to people in genuine need. For example, the HA reviews and adjusts the PRH income and asset limits annually to keep them in line with the prevailing socio-economic circumstances. Furthermore, starting from 2015/16, the HA has been conducting regular checking on non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System who have waited for five years but not yet due for detailed vetting within the next two years. For the regular checking conducted in the past six years (i.e. from 2016/17 to 2021/22), an average of about 53 per cent of the non-elderly one-person applicants were found to be ineligible for applying for PRH or did not respond to the HA's request for checking. Their applications had been cancelled.
Thank you President.
Ends/Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Issued at HKT 14:55
Issued at HKT 14:55
NNNN