2.1 The Government's key housing goals are -
| (a) | to help all households gain access to adequate and affordable housing; and | |
| (b) | to encourage home ownership in the community. |
2.2 The overall strategy by which we seek to achieve these goals is -
| (a) | to provide a steady and sufficient supply of land, together with supporting infrastructure, for public and private housing; | |
| (b) | to create the conditions to enable the private sector to make the fullest possible contribution towards meeting the demand for housing; | |
| (c) | to implement subsidised housing schemes to enable those in the relevant income groups to buy their own homes; | |
| (d) | to provide quality public rental housing at reasonable rents for those who cannot afford any other type of housing; and | |
| (e) | to monitor the private housing market and, where necessary, introduce measures to curb speculation. |
2.3 This broad strategy has remained unchanged for many years. It was generally reflected in the 1987 LTHS, as well as in the mid-term review of the LTHS conducted by the Housing Authority (HA) in 1993. It has also underpinned the many new Policy Commitments announced since October 1994 in the housing policy area. We believe that this broad strategy should continue to form the basis of the Government's policy on housing. Nevertheless, it is important that we should review the aims and achievements of the policies and programmes which support this strategy, so that we may be able to identify and implement the changes necessary to better achieve our basic goals in future, in the light of the changing needs and aspirations of the community.
2.4 The following chapters examine the main elements of our housing strategy, highlighting progress in achieving our goals so far, suggesting which areas pose the greatest challenges for the Government and the community in the years ahead, and putting forward our views on how the challenges may be met. In many cases, the answers to the problems we face lie in maintaining or expanding existing policies or programmes. In others, a change of emphasis will be necessary to make further progress towards attaining our goals.