Following is a question by the Hon Elaine Chik and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (March 25):
 
Question:
 
     Various subsidised sale housing schemes (including the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Subsidised Sale Flats Project and the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme (SCHS) of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS), as well as the Starter Homes for Hong Kong Residents (SH) projects of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) enable the public to purchase residential flats at discounted prices below market value to address their housing needs. However, these subsidised sale housing schemes are subject to different alienation restrictions. For example, the alienation of subsidised flats under SCHS and SH is subject to payment of premium, unlike HOS flats which can be sold to eligible individuals without paying premium through the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the number of flats with premium paid, as of the end of 2025, (i) in housing estates under HS' Subsidised Sale Flats Project, (ii) in the 10 housing estates under SCHS, and (iii) in eResidence, which is a SH project of URA, as well as the percentage of such flats relative to the total number of flats in these housing estates; and
 
(2) given that currently under WSM, White Form applicants who do not satisfy the requirement for Green Form status but meet the income and asset limits may purchase second-hand HOS flats with premium unpaid in the HOS Secondary Market or HS' flats with premium unpaid, whether the Government has studied the inclusion of the three types of subsidised sale housing mentioned in part (1) into WSM to facilitate the circulation of flats; if not, the reasons for that; if so, of the details, including if any study has been conducted on whether the lease conditions of these housing estates would hinder the relevant alienation arrangements, and the authorities' corresponding measures?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government has been committed to enhancing the housing ladder. It also helps low-to-middle-income families achieve home ownership and encourages upward mobility through various types of subsidised sale flats (SSF), including the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and the SSF projects of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS).
 
     As regards the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme (SCHS) of the HKHS, it was a scheme announced in 1992 to provide affordable housing to middle-income families whose income exceeded the HOS income limit but were unable to afford private housing.  Following the Government's repositioned housing policy in 2002, the SCHS came to an end in 2003. At present, the Government responds to the home ownership aspirations of higher-income persons who are above the HOS application threshold and yet cannot afford private housing through Starter Homes for Hong Kong Residents (SH) projects.
 
     The positionings of the SCHS and SH projects are not the same as those of the HOS of the HA and SSF of the HKHS, nonetheless these projects are also sold to eligible persons at a price lower than the market value to help them achieve home ownership. Based on the principles of effective and rational use of public housing resources as well as equity, if the owner of a flat concerned no longer wishes to reside in it, he/she has to first pay the premium in order to alienate the flat in the open market.
 
     In response to the question raised by the Hon Elaine Chik, our reply is as follows:
 
(1) As of December 2025, the number and percentage of flats with premium paid in the HKHS's SSF, the HKHS's SCHS and the Urban Renewal Authority (URA)'s SH projects are tabulated below:
 

Serial number	Name of project	Total number of units	Number of units with premium paid	Percentage of units with premium paid
SSF Projects of HKHS
1.	Greenview Villa	988	5	0.5%
2.	Greenhill Villa	1 020	8	0.8%
3.	Mount Verdant	330	2	0.6%
4.	Terrace Concerto	290	2	0.7%
SCHS Projects of HKHS
1.	Tivoli Garden	1 024	327	31.9%
2.	Park Belvedere	882	306	34.7%
3.	Marina Habitat	992	406	40.9%
4.	Radiant Towers	704	285	40.5%
5.	Hibiscus Park	420	162	38.6%
6.	The Pinnacle	1 424	361	25.4%
7.	Sunshine Grove	508	164	32.3%
8.	Cascades	712	318	44.7%
9.	Highland Park	1 456	578	39.7%
10.	Bel Air Heights	798	303	38.0%
SH Projects of URA
1.	eResidence Towers 1 and 2	493	2	0.4%
2.	eResidence Tower 3	260	0	0

Note: All above projects are subject to alienation restriction periods. Owners of the relevant units may only apply to alienate their flats in the open market subject to payment of premium after the alienation restriction period.
 
(2) In 2017, the HA endorsed the regularisation of the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) to address the demand for SSF among low-to-middle-income white-form applicants. The quota increased significantly from 2 500 in the first phase after regularisation (i.e. WSM 2018) to 7 000 as announced in the 2025 Policy Address. The WSM adopts the same income and asset limits as those under the HOS, allowing eligible persons to purchase the HA's HOS flats or designated SSF provided by the HKHS with premium unpaid. As for the SCHS and SH projects, as mentioned above, their target groups are higher-income persons who are above the HOS application threshold yet cannot afford private housing. The positionings of the SCHS and SH projects are not the same as those of the HOS of HA and SSF of the HKHS, and hence the former are not included under the WSM. In addition, the stock of flats under the two schemes concerned is limited, and thus the setting up of a separate secondary market for them would not be practical. Although the land leases of the relevant housing estates do not provide for a secondary market, owners who wish to alienate their flats may do so in the open market subject to payment of premium, and since these units were sold at a smaller discount, the amount of premium to be paid would also be lower. We will continue to closely monitor the housing demand-supply situation and optimise the housing ladder at appropriate junctures, so as to encourage upward mobility of our citizens and help them achieve home ownership.

Ends/Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:45

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