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Carrie Lam’s focus on affordable housing in Hong Kong will finally help the squeezed ‘sandwich’ class
Ken Chu welcomes the chief executive’s initiatives on housing, especially for young families, as they will benefit the often-neglected ‘sandwich class’ and reinstate their faith in the city’s future
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It was during her election campaign that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor first floated the idea of launching affordable homes for families struggling to buy flats at market rates.
Recently, she shared the basic concepts of her Starter Homes Scheme, which aims to enable these families to purchase a flat at prices lower than market rates.
The scheme will be targeted at permanent residents of Hong Kong. To qualify, they must be first-time homebuyers. According to Lam, the primary targets are young families who would be able to purchase a private flat at an affordable price.
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In addition, according to reports, restrictions will be imposed on these homeowners if they want to resell the subsidised units, to prevent them from making huge profits at the expense of others in society.
Affordable homes to be focus of Hong Kong housing policy, Carrie Lam vows
At a housing forum earlier this month, Lam further described the targeted young families as those who are not only ineligible to apply for public rental housing or the purchase of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats, but who are also unable to afford private housing despite their “decent” income. Let’s call this group the “sandwich class”, if you will.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam highlights concerns over high property prices
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