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Almost half expect property cooling to fail

Paggie Leung

Almost one in two Hongkongers believe the recent government measures to curb property speculation have failed to cool the market, according to a poll.

The results of a Liberal Party survey of 1,098 people between August 17 and 26 were revealed yesterday as developers bid for a premium site in Kowloon Tong.

Slightly over 43 per cent of those interviewed said the government measures announced in the middle of last month would not deter speculation, compared with 38 per cent who said the steps would work.

'This shows the public lacks confidence in the government in cracking down on market speculation,' a member of the party's executive committee, Michael Tien Puk-sun, said.

More than two weeks ago, as prices for flats continued to climb, the government vowed to increase investors' risks and the cost of speculative transactions by imposing additional limits on mortgage lending. Other cooling measures include banning resales of unfinished flats before a purchase is completed and increasing land supply.

The party said that during the first few days of the polling period, there was only 1 percentage point separating the proportions of respondents who believed the series of measures could be effective and those who believed the opposite. But better-than-expected land auctions later in the polling period dampened confidence in the policies.

More than a quarter of respondents believed resuming the subsidised Home Ownership Scheme was the best way to help more people become flat owners.

About 20 per cent preferred allowing HOS white form applicants - families on low incomes who are not eligible for public rental housing - to live in special subsidised public rental flats for at most five years. This would allow them to pay less rent than in the private sector and save for a deposit on their own property.

Slightly less than 20 per cent said there should be tougher measures to curb speculation.

'It reflects the public's wish that the government use different methods to help them solve their housing problem,' Tien said.

Liberal legislator Vincent Fang Kang urged the government to increase land supply by, for example, switching vacant industrial buildings to residential use.

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