My TakeSingapore is no model for Hong Kong housing
- With home prices out of the reach of most, critics have called on the city to follow the successful Singapore model just like Shenzhen, but it is not as easy as that
Pan-democratic critics often blast the Hong Kong government for trying to follow Singapore’s authoritarian political model, yet seem to think its housing policy will be a panacea for us.
Their case appears to have been boosted after the Shenzhen government recently declared it would abandon following the Hong Kong housing model and instead take after Singapore’s.
In reality, it’s neither desirable nor possible for Hong Kong to copy Singapore. Our government had a reasonably effective housing policy up to the early 2000s – if only the first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, had stuck with his original plan!
The problem started when the government effectively withdrew from the housing market by 2002 except for public rental housing for low-income groups. This misguided policy was in place for over a decade and by the time the government reversed course, the damage was done. There is no quick solution other than for the government to play catch-up for much of this and the next decade. Understandably, people have lost patience and dreamed about (non-existent) quick fixes, such as following Singapore.
Singapore, with its 91.5 per cent home ownership rate while having 80 per cent of its population living in government-built housing, is enviable. By contrast, Hong Kong hit an all-time high home ownership rate of 54.3 per cent in 2004, but has slowly fallen to 49.2 per cent now.