Following is a question by the Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (July 15):
 
Question:

     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) implemented the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Secondary Market Scheme in June 1997, which enables public rental housing households and Green Form Certificate holders to purchase subsidsed housing flats such as those sold under HOS. The HA later implemented the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) in 2018, under which persons eligible for White Form status and allocated with quotas may buy flats with premium unpaid in the secondary market of subsidised housing flats. However, there are views that WSM's quotas and eligibility fail to fully respond to market demand and changes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
     
(1) of (i) the number of applications, (ii) the number of Certificate of Eligibility to Purchase issued and its percentage in the total number of applicants, (iii) the number of Letter of Nomination issued and its percentage in the total number of applicants, and (iv) the number of subsequent successful flat purchase transactions and its percentage in the total number of applicants, for each WSM exercise over the past five years, with a breakdown by family applicants and one-person applicants;

(2) of the number of Certificate of Availability for Sale issued by the HA annually, and the number of transactions made by Green Form and White Form buyers in the HOS Secondary Market in the past year and so far this year;

(3) of the mean and median multiples of the actual transaction prices of flats successfully sold relative to the original purchase prices paid by the owners (reflecting the appreciation rate of the flats) over the past five years;

(4) given that WSM has repeatedly recorded oversubscription by dozens of times in recent years, in order to further revitalize the HOS Secondary Market, whether the HA will consider further expanding and relaxing the income and asset limits of eligible applicants, so as to cover more "sandwich class" people (such as young families); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(5) given that only 10 per cent of the total quota of 7 000 under WSM launched in 2025 was allocated to single persons, whether the HA will consider adjusting upward the quota for single persons, so as to increase single-person applicants' chances of purchasing HOS flats; if not, the reasons for that; and

(6) of the specific criteria for determining the annual quotas under WSM (including quotas for families and one-person applicants, as well as for the Youth Scheme); whether the HA has considered reviewing the mechanism and dynamically adjusting the various purchase quotas in response to market demand (e.g. application response, property price movements, etc); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:
 
President,

     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has all along been committed to enhancing the housing ladder, assisting the low-to-middle-income families to achieve home ownership through the sale of Subsidised Sale Flats (SSF), while continuously refining various measures to ensure that policies keep pace with the times.

     In June 1997, the HA launched the Home Ownership Scheme Secondary Market Scheme (HOS SMS) to enable the then residents of Public Rental Housing (PRH) and holders of Green Form Certificates (GFC) to purchase flats under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS)/the Private Sector Participation Scheme or the Tenants Purchase Scheme, and flats under the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme/the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) also became available for purchase then. The aforementioned arrangement allowed owners to sell their flats in the HOS secondary market with premium unpaid, thereby facilitating the turnover of SSF so as to meet the social demand. It also provided PRH tenants and holders of GFC with an additional avenue to achieve home ownership, freeing up more PRH flats for allocation to individuals in genuine need.

     In response to the aspirations of low-to-middle-income families for home ownership, the HA launched the Interim Scheme in 2013 and 2015 to extend the HOS Secondary Market to White Form (WF) buyers. In November 2017, the HA endorsed the regularisation of the Interim Scheme as the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) with effect from 2018.
 
     In response to the question raised by the Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon, our reply is as follows:

(1) to (3) Over the past five years, the numbers of applications under WSM by family and singleton applicants, the numbers of Certificate of Eligibility to Purchase, the numbers of Letter of Nomination and other information are set out in Annex 1. In last year and the year to date, the numbers of Certificate of Availability for Sale issued by the HA by year, and the transaction volumes in the HOS Secondary Market by Green Form and WF buyers for are set out in Annex 2. The operation of property transactions in the HOS Secondary Market is broadly similar to that in the open market, where buyers and sellers may negotiate directly or conduct transactions through property agents. For ease of reference for the public, transaction records in the HOS Secondary Market are available on the the HA/Housing Department website (www.housingauthority.gov.hk/en/home-ownership/hos-secondary-market/transaction-records).

(4) With regard to the income and asset limits for WSM, the HA conducts relevant reviews before the launch of each HOS sale exercise with reference to the latest data and circumstances available at the time, so as to determine the income and asset limit for HOS and WSM applicants. Specifically, the total expenditure required for an ordinary household to purchase a private residential flat of suitable size forms the basis for assessing the said limits for WF applicants. The most recent review was completed in December 2025. Taking family applicants with two or more persons as an example, the relevant income limit was set at $60,000 while the asset limit was set at $1,230,000.

(5) to (6) The HA enhances the WSM policy from time to time to facilitate the turnover of SSF and to assist low-to-middle-income families to achieve home ownership. The relevant enhancement measures rolled out in recent years include:

(i) Increase the quota: Under "WSM 2024", the HA increased the WSM quota from 4 500 to 6 000, and further raised the quota to 7 000 under "WSM 2025", representing a substantial increase of about 56 per cent over just two years;

(ii) Assist young people to achieve upward mobility: the HA introduced 1 500 dedicated youth quotas under "WSM 2024", and further increased the youth quota to 2 000 under "WSM 2025", representing an increase of 33 per cent;

(iii) Optimise the quota allocation mechanism: Starting from "WSM 2024", the HA refined the arrangements by reallocating the unused family quotas to singleton applicants, benefiting around 2 100 singleton applicants who have received the "Approval Letter";

(iv) Combine applications: To streamline the application arrangement for the convenience of applicants, the HA launched "HOS 2025", "GSH 2025" and "WSM 2025" simultaneously in April 2026. Eligible applicants may choose to apply for single or multiple schemes and flexibly make their purchase choice that suits their own needs taking into account the balloting sequence; and

(v) Optimise mortgage arrangements: In 2024, the HA relaxed the mortgage arrangements for SSF, including the extension of mortgage default guarantee period in the secondary market from 30 years to 50 years, so that buyers may obtain mortgage loans of a longer tenor. Since the implementation of the relevant arrangements, as at June 2026, the average monthly transaction of second-hand SSF amounted to 370, representing an increase of about 60 per cent compared to that of about 230 recorded 12 months before the implementation of such arrangements.

     In launching future rounds of WSM, we will continue to take into account various factors in a comprehensive manner, such as the demand of different types of applicants (including young people and family applicants) and the circumstances of their successful purchases of SSF in the secondary market, as well as the macroeconomic environment, the overall sentiment in the residential property market, the supply-demand balance, the interest rate outlook etc. We will make timely adjustments and consult the HA on the quota.

     Apart from selling SSF, the HA recognises that some eligible WF applicants who do not fulfill the eligibility for PRH application encounter difficulty in affording private residential properties, and therefore wish for more rental options before home purchase.  In parallel, some SSF owners may wish to let their flats due to changes in family or other circumstances so as to make better use of resources. In this connection, the HA and the Hong Kong Housing Society will launch the "Letting Scheme for Subsidised Sale Developments with Premium Unpaid (White Form)" in September this year. Under the scheme, owners who have owned their SSF for 10 years or more, after paying the Letting Permit Fee, are allowed to let their flat with premium unpaid to applicants meeting the WF eligibility for HOS. The scheme not only provides more choices for owners and facilitates turnover of SSF, but also offers more rental options for eligible WF persons, thereby achieving a multiple-win situation.

Ends/Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:35

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