Fewer than 5,000 Housing Authority flats will be offered for sale over the next 12 months, the Government said yesterday after lifting the 10-month ban on sales.
The figure is just over half the maximum number of 9,000 the Government had said could be sold after the ban was removed.
Under a new plan, the authority will be limited to selling 2,000 flats a year after 2005-06.
Property developers welcomed the announcement, saying it had struck the right balance, while the chairman of the financially strapped authority said it was in line with the thinking of members.
Announcing the targets, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said more loans would be offered to help people buy on the private market.
Last September, Mr Tsang announced a 10-month sale ban on Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats, without consulting the authority, amid claims of pressure from property tycoons.