Officials unveil four options, but critics say the plans to disqualify young people from public housing are simply discrimination
Housing officials yesterday unveiled long-heralded proposals to limit the number of public housing flats allocated to single people - and immediately ran into a threat of legal action.
The four options range from disqualifying young single people already in subsidised units from getting a flat of their own, to setting quotas that would lengthen the waiting time for singles.
Director of Housing Leung Chin-man said Housing Authority members preferred an option combining a quota system with a marking scheme that would favour older applicants.
Mr Leung said young people naturally earned less when they started work, but their salaries would increase and their income would usually stabilise by the age of 35. 'They can wait for a few years [for a home] or use their own efforts to improve their living conditions.'
However, the Society for Community Organisation vowed to take the authority to court.