Representatives of 2019’s subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flat applicants, accompanied by lawmaker Ron Lam U, handed a petition yesterday to Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng at Government Headquarters on Rua de S. Lourenço, calling for the release of the details of the HOS flats’ sales price calculation and a review of its “reasonableness”.
The petition, which garnered 135 signatures, quoted the Housing Bureau’s (IH) announcement released early this year as citing the average selling price per square foot of 3,300 patacas, i.e., 35,600 patacas per square metre, for 3,017 HOS flats on the plots of B4, B9 and B10 in the Zone A land reclamation area increased “significantly” by more than 70 percent compared to that of HOS flats in public residential buildings such as Bairro da Ilha Verde.
“I’m really disappointed with the price,” one of the representatives surnamed Fong told reporters, adding she had never expected such a “significant” price hike, as otherwise she would have considered buying a flat in a walk-up rather than applying to purchase an HOS flat.
Another representative surnamed Cheong urged the government to consider redistributing the 411 HOS flats which have been converted into social rental housing units to HOS applicants. “I don’t have to live in the Zone A area,” she added.
Lam pointed out that in line with the law adopted for the 2019 scheme, the sales price of the units must take into account, in particular, the purchasing capacity of the potential beneficiaries of HOS flats, the location of the buildings, the year of their construction, the location and orientation of the overall structure of the building, as well as the area and typology of the units.
He noted that residents’ median monthly incomes in both 2019 and 2023 stood at 20,000 patacas, while, at the same time, the overall residential property price index fell over the same period, adding that there was no justification for a substantial increase in the HOS selling price per square foot.
Lam urged the bureau to explain the reasons for the “substantial” increase in the selling price and the way the adjusted selling price was calculated. He also called for a review of the “reasonableness” of the HOS sales price by taking into account the purchasing power of the HOS flat applicants, apart from readjusting the selling price and subsidy ratio to the prices so that they would be similar to those during its previous rounds of applications.
Directly-elected lawmaker Ron Lam U Tou (left), vice president of the Macau Synergy Association, and representatives of 2019’s subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flat applicants pose with a petition addressed to Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, outside Government Headquarters on Rua de S. Lourenço yesterday. – Photo: Yuki Lei
