Hong Kong Housing Authority: 8700 units have been reclaimed to date in the fight against the abuse of public housing and a communication mechanism will be established with mainland China.

On July 14th, Li Peishi, Director of the Hong Kong Housing Department, spoke at a public meeting of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, stating that the Hong Kong Housing Department is committed to cracking down on the abuse of public housing. Since the current Hong Kong government took office until the end of May this year, the Hong Kong Housing Department has recovered about 8,700 units, saving a corresponding construction cost of 8.7 billion Hong Kong dollars, with remarkable results. In addition to requiring residents to declare assets and properties, and conducting careful reviews, the Hong Kong Housing Authority will launch a "report abuse of public housing award" in January 2025 to collect intelligence for more targeted action against abuse of public housing. As of the end of March this year, the Hong Kong Housing Department has received about 3,900 reports, of which about 1,700 have chosen to participate in the reward program. After screening, about 700 reports can be further followed up. In the fiscal year 2024/25, the Hong Kong Housing Authority will have a total of about 23,000 units completed, including about 9,000 public housing units and 14,000 subsidized sale units. It is expected that there will be about 28,000 units completed in the fiscal year 2025/26, an increase of 20% compared to 2024/25. In addition to significantly increasing the new supply of public housing, it is equally important to accelerate the turnover of public housing to help applicants waiting for public housing to "move upstairs" faster. As of the end of March 2025, there were about 116,400 general public housing applications and about 86,300 applications for non-elderly single applicants under quotas and points systems. Compared to the peak of 156,400 units (as of the end of September 2020) and 143,700 units (as of the end of December 2015), the number of general public housing applications and applications for non-elderly single applicants has significantly decreased by 26% and 40% respectively. The Hong Kong Housing Department continues to compare and verify the information of 250,000 households in the second round of the April 2024 declaration period with the Land Registry to find out that about 3,300 households own residential properties in Hong Kong, and to follow up on lease/inspection actions accordingly. The third batch of check-and-relevant lease/inspection actions of the October 2024 declaration period is now in progress. Among the 210,000 households required to report in the fourth round in April 2025, more than 99% of the declaration forms have been received, and the Hong Kong Housing Department will carefully handle cases that have not yet submitted their forms, and contact tenants in different ways to verify whether they intentionally refused to report or abused public housing. If violations are confirmed, we will issue them with eviction notices to take back the units. The Hong Kong Housing Department has established communication mechanisms with property registration agencies in several provinces and cities in mainland China, such as the Natural Resources Bureau and Real Estate Registration Center, to strengthen exchanges and cooperation to check whether tenants own residential or non-residential properties in the mainland. In addition, to quickly fill the gap in short-term public housing supply and improve the living environment and quality of life of residents living in unsuitable places, the current Hong Kong government is leading the construction of "simple public housing", with a total of about 30,000 units set to be completed by 2027. In terms of housing ladder improvement, the current "Home Ownership for Residents Housing Scheme 2024" ("HOS 2024") has released a total of over 7,800 units for sale and began selection of units at the end of May this year. The overall sales speed is currently about a quarter faster than that of the same period for "HOS 2023", reflecting the continued strong demand for subsidized sale units from applicants. Some members suggested that the Housing Authority can consider introducing new arrangements in future subsidized sale unit sales plans to assist public housing wealthy households in purchasing desired subsidized sale units, encouraging them to move up the housing ladder and further accelerate the turnover of public housing units so that families in need can "move upstairs" earlier. Therefore, starting from the next HOS, the quota ratio of green and white forms will be adjusted from 40:60 to 50:50. Additionally, starting from October 1st of this year, the Housing Authority will allow public housing wealthy households who are paying extra rent to retain the "green form eligibility" for four years after voluntarily moving out of their units. During this period, they can apply for green forms to purchase first-hand HOS/green form units, or purchase subsidized sale units in the second market without price adjustment. At the same time, to help public housing wealthy households have a greater opportunity to buy desired units, the Housing Authority is studying new arrangements to be introduced in subsidized sale unit sales plans to encourage public housing tenants to move up. On the other hand, some members suggested that the Housing Authority should consider further tightening the resale restrictions of HOS units, or even separating subsidized sale housing from the private market. In fact, to effectively prevent short-term speculation, the Housing Authority has set transfer periods for HOS and green form units to prevent owners from profiting from short-term sales in the open market and to strengthen the message that subsidized sale units are for self-use. Furthermore, allowing HOS and green form owners to sell their units after the ban period can facilitate the turnover of second-hand subsidized sale units, increase supply in the market, and provide homeowners with the opportunity to move to the private housing market on the housing ladder. In terms of youth development, to increase the chances for young people to successfully purchase subsidized sale units, the Housing Authority will allocate an additional draw number to white form young families and single applicants under 40 years old who apply to purchase HOS units starting from the next HOS. In terms of the second market, the Housing Authority has increased the quota from 1500 to 6000 for "My Home II 2024", and all the applications for "My Home II 2024" are young applicants, with over 80% choosing to participate in the "Youth Program (My Home II)", reflecting the program's popularity among young people. To encourage and support young people in pursuing their entrepreneurial dreams, the Housing Authority launched the "Together Building Entrepreneurs" program in 2024, providing free shop spaces to young people in its malls to try out their entrepreneurial plans. This year, the Housing Authority further upgraded and expanded the program, introducing entrepreneurial ladder rental discounts, expanding to private malls, and partnering with business partners to provide more opportunities for young entrepreneurs, injecting vitality and innovation into the community, and injecting new momentum into the retail industry in Hong Kong. Along with the 12 shops provided by the Housing Authority, "Together Building Entrepreneurs 2.0" offers over 60 shops, a sixfold increase in scale compared to the first phase. To enhance the well-being and sense of belonging of public housing residents, the Housing Authority actively promotes smart housing estate management through innovative technology, in line with this year's theme of "Together Building Smart", to improve estate management efficiency and service quality, strengthen estate security, optimize environmental cleanliness, and expedite the maintenance of public facilities. Regarding smart construction, to accelerate the pace of construction, the Housing Authority will continue to apply innovative construction technology, optimize the existing "Modular Integrated Construction" (MiC) building method, and implement research results in engineering projects. Starting from the fiscal year 2025/26, the Housing Authority will apply the second generation of "Modular Integrated Construction" (MiC 2.0) in the design and planning of new construction projects. Compared to MiC 1.0 design, MiC 2.0 can save most of the temporary supports, reduce wall thickness, simplify on-site installation operations to shorten installation time. In projects completed from 2028/29 to 2032/33, the Housing Authority will select more than half of the projects to adopt MiC building method. Among the public housing projects completed or expected to be completed from 2023/24 to 2027/28, about 20 public housing projects have adopted the "Modular Integrated Construction" building method. The Housing Authority continues to expand the use of Building Information Modeling to improve efficiency in the planning, design, and construction process of public housing, simplify decision-making processes; use mobile phones and applications for on-site supervision to simplify document processing by construction personnel; introduce construction robots to provide additional labor productivity and enhance construction safety; use mechanical and electrical equipment synthesis methods in building equipment to reduce on-site installation time through standardized simulated design; and use a "mobile mapping system" for inspection during acceptance to improve efficiency in detecting construction defects. The Housing Authority will also specify clear technical specifications and application standards in contract documents, and promote the application of Siasun Robot&Automation in construction. Some members suggested accelerating the establishment of a more comprehensive construction site management information analysis platform to set an example for building a safe and smart construction environment in Hong Kong. In fact, the Housing Authority successfully independently developed the "BuildSmart" project information management and analysis one-stop platform in 2022, using cloud technology, integrating big data with digital maps, digital models, and geographic information systems to showcase public housing development project information to enhance data analysis capabilities and efficiency. Currently, this platform has been applied in five construction sites, and is expected to be expanded to 15 construction sites that have entered the construction stage by the fiscal year 2025/26. In addition, for units completed from 2028/29 to 2032/33, at least 50% will be constructed using the "Design and Build" procurement model. Over the past two years, the Housing Authority has awarded contracts for seven "Design and Build" projects, bringing in contractors responsible for both design and construction. By June of this year, the Housing Authority has also issued tenders for two additional "Design and Build" projects located in Ma On Shan Cheung Muk Tau and Kam Tan Wai. Some members suggested considering splitting the construction contract or directly ordering materials from manufacturers, such as ordering standardized units directly from the mainland, to reduce costs by reducing intermediary costs. The Hong Kong Housing Department is studying MiC direct procurement plans, and plans to start bidding in the first quarter of 2026.