PLANS to offer cheaper Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats to tenants hit by Housing Authority redevelopments were yesterday criticised as ''taxing the poor to subsidise the rich''. At the quarterly meeting yesterday, Housing Authority members discussed proposals to promote home ownership in the mid-term review of the Long Term Housing Strategy. Yesterday's conference also saw Rosanna Wong Yick-ming chair a full meeting for the first time since her appointment as authority chairman in July. The housing policy review was prompted last year following the Governor's promise to allow 60 per cent of families to own homes by the turn of the century. One recommendation is to offer the cheaper Type II HOS flats to tenants affected by government redevelopments and those applicants who are about to be allocated rental units. It aims to clear the backlog of the 70,000 applicants on the waiting list. But authority member Leung Wai-tung said: ''The authority should concentrate on offering enough rental units for the needy. ''I do not think those who are enjoying subsidised housing should be given further preference to buy Type II HOS flats.'' She was supported by fellow members Frederick Fung Kin-kee, Edward Ho Sing-tin, and Hau Shiu-pui.
