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Hong Kong protests
OpinionLetters

Letters | To address the home truths that lie behind Hong Kong’s protests, look to Australian housing schemes

  • A seriously unaffordable housing market is a major source of youth discontent fuelling the sustained civil unrest in Hong Kong
  • Setting up a scheme similar to the Australian First Home Owner Grant programme should relieve one of the pressure points in society

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Protesters hold up a banner to reassure visitors, during a demonstration at Hong Kong airport on August 9. To effectively address the discontent fuelling the protests, the government must devise effective long-term strategies to rein in housing prices, apart from listening to the short- and medium-term demands of protesters. Photo: AP
Letters
It has often been said that one of the main sources of discontent in Hong Kong that has contributed to the current unrest is the lack of affordable housing. According to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey 2019, Hong Kong retained its title as the world’s least affordable housing market for a ninth consecutive year.
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The average price of a home in Hong Kong is a staggering 20.9 times the annual household income. A house price-to-income ratio (median multiple) of 5.1 and over is considered severely unaffordable. Hong Kong’s median multiple of 20.9 is the highest figure ever reported in the survey.

The problem is only going to worsen unless some effective long-term strategies are put in place to tackle it. This is where the Hong Kong government must act, apart from addressing protesters’ short- and medium-term demands.

Australia, for example, has a house price-to-income ratio of 5.9. It is not a star performer in this regard, but it has a very good First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) scheme that offers first-time homebuyers, especially young families, hope of a roof over their heads. Hope is presently in critical short supply in Hong Kong.
The Australian FHOG Scheme is a national scheme, introduced in 2000, funded by the states and territories and administered under their own legislation. Under the Queensland scheme, a one-off A$15,000 (US$10,168) grant is payable to first-time homeowners who satisfy all the eligibility criteria. To be eligible for the grant, the applicant must be at least 18 years old, buying or building a brand new home, and the value of the home including the land must be less than A$750,000. The grant does not guarantee a new home, since it is eventually up to the banks to approve or disapprove a home loan, but it is a good starting point.
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