2014-08-31
HKT 09:15
The government has been urged to make changes to its land auction system and the semi-public Home Ownership Scheme, so it can provide more subsidised flats to ease Hong Kong's acute housing shortage.
The call, by Democratic Party lawmaker Wu Chi-Wai, came after a study by Chinese University showed that, on average, it would take a family 14 years to buy a 400-square foot apartment here; and that's if no money at all is spent on food or clothing.
Speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong, Mr Wu named two policy changes which, he claims, could increase the supply of affordable housing.
He said the government should resume any land not bid for at auction by property developers.
This, he said, would stop them paying too little for land, and that the resumed land could be used for public, Home Ownership Scheme or sandwich-class housing.
He also said the government should let Home Ownership Scheme, or HOS, owners rent out their flats without paying the land premium, and that this rental income could be shared with the Housing Authority.
HOS flats are government flats which can be converted into fully private flats.
They can be bought at a discount from the government, but owners face restrictions on their use until the discount, known as the land premium, is repaid to the government.
http://m.rthk.hk/news/20140831/1033745.htm
