OFFICIALS have been accused of kowtowing to developers after it was revealed the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) would be cut by 25 per cent.
Housing Bureau chiefs said the shortfall from the scheme, which helps ordinary families buy flats, would be made up by an increase in housing loan quotas.
Secretary for Housing Dominic Wong Shing-wah has told members of the Housing Authority that from the start of the 2003-04 financial year, 6,000 HOS units, one-quarter of the total, will be scrapped.
As compensation, 6,000 additional families will become eligible under the Home Purchase Loan Scheme. Land designated for HOS use will be sold to private developers to increase the land supply.
The decision drew criticism from housing watchdogs, who condemned the Government for 'kowtowing' to developers.
'The Government is backing down to pressure from the property developers,' said Wong Kwun, a member of the Housing Authority.