Housing chief Eva Cheng Yu-wah sounded a cautious note yesterday on reviving a subsidised housing scheme which has been suspended for five years.
The minister told the Legislative Council's housing panel that relaunching the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) would have a significant social impact.
Thorough consultation was needed before any policy change, she said, although the government had not yet set a consultation timetable.
In 2002, the government stopped the scheme which was launched in 1978 to provide low-cost accommodation to families on low incomes.
Some members of the Housing Authority, which advises the administration on public housing policy, recently called for the scheme to be resumed in the wake of spiralling private housing prices.
Ms Cheng said the government would examine the availability of affordable flats and public opinion before considering relaunching the scheme.
She noted that over the past few years, flat transactions of HK$2 million or below accounted for about 60 per cent of the deals in the private property market.
