Hong Kong Treasury Bureau: By the end of June 2025, a total of 1697 applications for new arrangements under the Protection Scheme have been approved.

The Director of the Hong Kong Treasury, Eddie Yue, replied to questions from legislators at a Legislative Council meeting on July 9th, stating that in order to assist homeowners under the Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP) in meeting special needs brought about by personal or family circumstances, Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited (HKMC) announced a new arrangement in August last year. Eligible homeowners may be exempted from the owner-occupier requirement under the MIP on a case-by-case basis, and be approved to apply to rent out their properties. By the end of June 2025, HKMC had received around 1800 applications for the new arrangement. Out of these, 1697 applications were approved, while the remaining applications were either rejected due to not meeting the conditions or are still being processed. Yue mentioned that as the MIP aims to promote home ownership, the owner-occupier requirement remains the main eligibility criteria for the programme. The new arrangement is a special measure to assist individuals with special needs. In fact, the MIP is essentially an insurance product, and credit risk remains one of its main considerations. Allowing owners approved to rent out properties under the MIP to purchase other residential properties without selling their original properties may lead to them taking on more financing debt beyond the high ratio mortgage loans on their original properties. This would bring additional credit risk to the MIP. He also stated that the new arrangement has been running smoothly for almost a year, providing substantial assistance to homeowners with special needs. HKMC has no plans to adjust the new arrangement at the moment, but will review the MIP periodically based on market conditions.