Public housing waiting time unlikely to get shorter

December 09, 2021 09:23
Photo: RTHK

Those in the public housing waiting line might be a bit disappointed to hear that the government is keeping its housing supply target for the next decade unchanged.

The Government’s 10-year housing supply target will remain at 430,000 units, while the public to private flat ratio of 70:30 will also stay the same, Secretary for Transport & Housing Frank Chan announced Wednesday while unveiling the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2021.

Chan said the supply target is set based on the latest projection of total housing demand for the 10-year period from 2022-23 to 2031-32.

As such, the public housing target stands at 301,000. Out of which, 210,000 would be public rental housing units or Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme flats, and 91,000 would be other subsidised sale flats.

As at end of September this year, the average waiting time for general applicants for public housing reached a record of almost six years, according to Housing Authority statistics.

For the public housing units planned, about one-third are scheduled for completion in the next five years, with the remaining two-thirds to be ready in the following five.

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