Advertisement
Advertisement
Property policies
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
Construction site of the De Novo flats at Kai Tak. Photo: Sam Tsang

Single people can buy subsidised flats in Hong Kong after sudden policy U-turn by Urban Renewal Authority

The quasi-official body responsible for speeding up the renewal of Hong Kong's decaying urban areas performed a controversial policy U-turn yesterday by announcing single people could buy its subsidised flats.

But the profit-making Urban Renewal Authority did not explain the reason behind its about-face, only saying it was "in response to the housing needs of single-person households".

One non-executive director of the authority complained about the top-down nature of the announcement and asked why he hadn't been consulted beforehand, while another suggested the move may be designed to head off a possible legal challenge under the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance.

UPDATE: Caught unaware: Hong Kong urban renewal authority director claims board learned of management’s policy U-turn just like public

It comes just four months after the authority excluded single people - the exact definition of which the body last night said they were still working on - from the scheme to help middle- income families who could not afford to buy flats in the city's sky-high private property market.

Single people will be able to apply to buy discounted flats in the authority's De Novo development at Kai Tak. The authority did not say if the same would apply to future developments.

Next to Kai Ching and Tak Long estates, the development offers 338 subsidised flats, ranging in size from 332 to 568 square feet, at 80 per cent of the market rate.

A spokesman for the authority would only say the change of decision was made "in response to the housing need of single- person households", adding that they had no plan to set a quota for singles.

Single people and households of two persons or more are required to meet the same eligibility criteria, which stipulates that their total monthly household income and asset value must not exceed HK$60,000 and HK$3 million respectively.

READ MORE: Huge demand from single people prompts Hong Kong Housing Authority to review subsidised home sales scheme

Applicants also must not already have owned property, lived in Hong Kong fewer than seven years, or be public housing tenants who are eligible to apply for flats under Housing Authority's Home Ownership Scheme.

Alice Mak Mei-kuen, a non-executive director at the authority, said while she was not involved directly in the decision-making process, it was her understanding that "legal consequences and complaints from the public" lay behind the sudden change in policy.

Fellow non-executive director Wu Chi-wai accused management of the authority of by-passing its board members, something for which it should be "condemned".

"This decision is a big social issue which involves public interest and resources and cannot be decided alone by the management,'' said Wu.

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Single people will be able to buy subsidised flats after U-turn by authority
Post