The issue of housing is at front and centre of the government’s policy agenda, and is a very important work priority for the administration, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng told lawmakers yesterday afternoon during a plenary Q&A session at the legislature’s hemicycle.
Responding to questions regarding the government’s housing plan, Ho said construction had begun on a housing project for senior citizens that was announced in April last year. He said the project was expected to be basically completed by 2023. He added that upon completion of construction, the pilot project would be handed over to the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) for it to allocate the units. All units of the project would be for rental only and would be allocated in line with a by-law, Ho explained.
According to the chief executive, the government is planning to unveil in June or July the show flats of the two-bedroom and one-bedroom versions of the units in the senior citizen housing project. The government currently has no information on how many senior citizens might apply for flats in the project, Ho said, pointing out that the project is intended for financially-independent senior citizens currently living in walk-ups.
Senior citizens already living in retirement homes, or in other kinds of housing equipped with lifts, are not eligible to apply to live in the new housing complex, Ho underlined, adding that the Social Housing Bureau is assessing how much rent should be charged.
Regarding housing for the so-called “sandwich class”, Ho pointed out that the results of a public consultation on the issue, which was launched last year, will be published by the end of this month, and a legislative process would follow. If the public agrees to the launch of “sandwich class” housing, the government would begin preparing land resources for such a housing project, Ho noted. He added that the government was striving to announce its Urban Master Plan by the end of this year, so that detailed zoning plans could be made accordingly, and relevant studies on land zoned for residential purposes could be conducted.
Ho said the Government’s housing policy also covered private housing in addition to housing for senior citizens, sandwich-class housing and public housing (including social rental housing and home-ownership scheme housing). After zoning plans were made in line with the Urban Master Plan, the government intends to allocate a number of plots of land for public auction, in order for developers to build commercial or residential buildings, Ho said. Such a step would not affect the land zoned for public housing, he said.
Ho said the government would strike the right balance between the development of public housing, housing for senior citizens, and sandwich-class housing, as well as private housing. Ho said the government would set out Macau’s overall housing policy in accordance with market demands.
The chief executive also revealed that construction contracts for several home-ownership scheme (HOS) housing complexes, to be developed on five plots of land in New Urban Area Zone A, would be put up for public bidding very soon. An application process regarding allocation of more than 5,000 units of HOS housing in Zone A would open in the second half this year. This would be the first application round for subsidised housing since the amendment to the Law on Home-Ownership Scheme Housing, Ho noted. The government would closely monitor the public’s response to the application round. Ho said the government was planning to open an application process for allocation of another 5,000 HOS units next year.
As for public housing, Ho said that as the revised proposal of the public housing project in Avenida de Wai Long would offer 2,000 fewer units than the original proposal, the government would strive to identify land resources elsewhere to build those 2,000 units. He insisted that the government had no intention of decreasing the supply of public housing, but rather wanted to offer citizens bigger flats. He added that the demand for subsidised housing in Macau was yet to be determined, and the development of the private-housing sector, which makes up 70 percent of the local housing market, had to be taken into account, in order to avoid the risk of negative equity for property owners.
Show flats in the subsidised housing projects on lots T1, T2, and T3, in New Urban Area Zone A, would be unveiled in June or July, so that the public could see the quality of public housing provided under the new law, Ho said. The government had learnt its lessons from past problems regarding the quality of subsidised housing, and would ensure the safety and quality of the construction materials used in subsidised housing in Zone A. Proper guidelines have been established in the bidding document for the projects, and the government will follow up the tendering process via an evaluation process, Ho promised. – MPD, GCS
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre, left) addresses yesterday’s Q&A session in the hemicycle of the Legislative Assembly (AL) as the legislature’s president, Kou Hoi In (cente, right), looks on. Photo: GCS
