Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu delivered the annual policy address at the Hong Kong Legislative Council on October 16, 2024.
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Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee announced initiatives to address the city’s housing affordability crisis in his annual report, calling it a “matter of high public concern” policy address Wednesday.
one Topic Policy In his speech, he announced that they would seek to provide citizens under the age of 40 with an easier route to subsidized housing amid growing concerns about their ability to gain a foothold in the city’s crowded housing market.
Under the scheme, the Hong Kong Housing Authority will allocate additional lottery numbers to applicants under the age of 40, a move that will increase their chances of being selected for units in the city’s subsidized home ownership scheme.
The government will also increase “White Form Secondary Market Plan“——According to this regulation, there is no need to pay land premium for the purchase and sale of second-hand subsidized units – NT$1,500, all of which are reserved for applicants under the age of 40. Only 4,500 By 2023, families will be eligible to buy apartments under the scheme.
This move comes at a good time reports and fears Young Hong Kongers in the city may turn down promotions and salary increases to remain eligible for public housing rather than enter the private market.
In order to further solve the housing affordability problem for young people, the government will continue to implement the youth hostel scheme and subsidize non-governmental organizations to rent hotels and guesthouses as youth hostels.
this 2024 Demographia International Housing Affordability Report For more than a decade, the city has been ranked as the hardest place to buy a home. More than 100,000 in the city”shoe box size“Subdivided houses have been agreed with health and safety issuesis often used to illustrate this fact.
Lee said on Wednesday that the city would introduce a new rental system for divided apartments, and that “substandard” units would be converted into “basic housing unit” Meet new requirements such as windows, toilets and dimensions greater than 86 square feet.
He also said that the government expects to complete about 9,500 new public housing units next year, moving towards the goal of completing about 30,000 units in 2027-2028.
The current waiting time for public housing in Hong Kong is 5.5 years. Lee said the waiting time could be shortened to 4.5 years between 2026 and 2027.
Wednesday’s policy address is the third during Lee Hsien Loong’s five-year term. Compared with previous ones, the report focuses more on improving residents’ livelihoods and strengthening Hong Kong’s economy.
Previous speeches have focused more on issues of national security and post-pandemic recovery measures, with Lee taking over the city after a period of civil unrest that led to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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