Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man said yesterday that the government will study the feasibility of allowing households living in subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) flats to apply to move to other HOS units with different bedroom numbers.
Tam said that the proposed measure aims to enable HOS households with their family size having increased to move to flats with more bedrooms.
The future possible implementation of the proposal revealed by Tam yesterday would require amendments to the HOS law.
Amendments to laws proposed by the government must be passed by the legislature to take effect.
Tam made the remarks when replying to oral interpellations by lawmakers during a plenary session in the legislature’s hemicycle. Yesterday was the first time that Tam in his capacity as a policy secretary attended a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL). Tam had headed the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) since March 2016 before taking office as the secretary for transport and public works on December 20 last year.
HOS flats are part of the government’s public housing programme which also includes social rental housing and sandwich-class housing. In Portuguese and Chinese, they are known as “economical”, i.e., “affordable” flats.
Social housing units are provided for low-income local families to rent, while government-built HOS flats are sold below private property market prices to local residents who are unable to buy a flat in the private sector.
The government’s newly established sandwich-class housing programme aims to provide “affordable” flats for local residents who are not eligible to buy an HOS flat but cannot afford to buy a flat in the private sector either.
Sandwich-class flats are sold at higher prices than HOS flats.
Currently, HOS estates provide flats with one, two or three bedrooms.
According to the HOS law’s current version, a one-person household can only apply to buy an HOS flat with one bedroom, while a two-member household can choose to buy a flat with one or two bedrooms. A household with three or more members can choose to buy an HOS flat with one, two or three bedrooms.
Some civic leaders have said that such provisions listed in the current HOS law would discourage those living in a one-bedroom HOS flat from having children. Similarly, civic leaders have said, individuals who plan to marry and have children in the future may choose not to apply to buy an HOS flat at the moment because they can only apply for a one-bedroom flat, which, however, would not be able meet their needs in the future when they have children.
Consequently, civic leaders have said, such provisions would discourage young local people from starting a family.
In her oral interpellations presented during yesterday’s plenary session, lawmaker Ella Lei Cheng I asked the government whether it will propose amendments to the current HOS law allowing individuals to apply to buy a two-bedroom HOS flat.
Lei also asked whether the government will propose HOS amendments allowing eligible residents to file an application to buy an HOS flat any time, i.e., its application process will be carried out on a permanent basis.
According to the current HOS system, after all the available flats in a particular round of applications have been allocated, all other unsuccessful applicants on the list will be removed so that they will have to reapply the next time a new application round is launched.
In his oral interpellations presented during yesterday’s plenary session, legislator Zheng Anting asked the government whether it will propose amendments to the current HOS law allowing those living in a one-bedroom HOS flat to move to a two-bedroom one, and those living in a two-bedroom HOS flat to move to a three-bedroom one, by paying the government the respective price differences.
Tam replied that in the near future the government will not consider the possibility of proposing amendments changing the government’s current HOS application process to a new one to be carried out on a permanent basis, after assessing the city’s current socioeconomic situation.
However, Tam was quick to add that the government will launch a study on the feasibility of allowing existing HOS households to apply to move to other HOS units with different bedroom numbers.
Moreover, Tam also pledged that the government will study the possibility of improving the criteria listed in the current points-based system for the allocation of HOS flats after an application round is launched, with the aim of enabling more residents with different levels of incomes to become eligible to buy an HOS flat.
All proposals laid out by Tam would require amendments to the HOS law.
Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
