JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 29 November, 2015, 2:52am
UPDATED : Sunday, 29 November, 2015, 2:52am
The construction site of De Novo at Kai Tak. Photo: Sam Tsang
The Urban Renewal Authority is having a rethink on eligibility criteria for its first subsidised housing project as it proposes to allow single people to buy homes but with income eligibility halved from HK$60,000 to HK$30,000.
The organisation made the move after a public outcry erupted last week over its decision to allow single people to buy subsidised flats - and to use the same income limit as family applicants. The HK$60,000 monthly limit was considered too generous for single people.
Four lawmakers sitting on the authority's board complained that they were not properly consulted by executives, with the issue being placed under "any other business" on the agenda in last week's meeting without any explanatory papers being tabled.
The project - De Novo at the former Kai Tak airport site - had initially been earmarked for homeowners displaced by URA redevelopment projects.
But the scheme was changed earlier this year as part of the government's housing policy, under which the majority, or 338 flats, at De Novo would be sold to middle-income families at 80 per cent of market price.
A URA spokesman said: "Management is now working on various options on the eligibility criteria for De Novo, which will be put forward for the board's deliberation on Tuesday. No details can be disclosed at this stage."
But a source from the authority said one of the options to be tabled would be to halve the income and asset limits for unmarried applicants, to HK$30,000 and HK$1.5 million respectively.
"The lower income limit would mean the choice for single people would be confined to smaller and cheaper flats," the source said.
The source expressed concern that the limit would prompt a judicial review against the authority on the basis that unmarried buyers were being discriminated against under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance based on applicants' marital status.
But board member and lawmaker Wu Chi-wai said the Urban Renewal Authority was "over-worried" about the legal risks, noting that the ordinance gave exemption to two named subsidised housing schemes including the Home Ownership Scheme.
"It gives me a feeling that the URA executives only wanted to sell the flats quickly and did not think through the policy," Wu said.
Another lawmaker and board member, Alice Mak Mei-kuen, urged the management to release more information to the board.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1884818/hong-kongs-urban-renewal-authority-rethinks-criteria-single
