Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. I refer to the article “Hong Kong opens funding tap to make more mortgage loans available for first-home buyers” ( February 23 ) on the government’s move to help more residents get on the property ladder, announced in the 2022-2023 budget. Homebuyers will soon be able to choose a mortgage with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80 per cent of the property value of up to HK$12 million, and for first-time homebuyers, 90 per cent for value of up to HK$10 million. The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation has also extended its Mortgage Insurance Programme to cover property valued at between HK$12 million and HK$19.2 million, with a loan cap of HK$9.6 million. To benefit from the maximum mortgage loan of HK$9.6 million, the household income under the current interest rate and stress test would require a minimum of HK$91,000 per month, excluding liabilities. This is based on the recommendation that the repayment amount not exceed 50-60 per cent of income. According to the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Report on General Household Survey: July–September 2021, the number of households with income at or above HK$100,000 per month was 192,600, representing 7.2 per cent of all households in Hong Kong. This figure covers a very narrow spectrum of the middle-class band, who would be entitled to the higher LTV mortgage loan. Moreover, households which already own a property and intend to upsize would sell their existing property to maximise the deposit and meet the requirements of the mortgage stress test. With more cash to cover the deposit, they will not benefit from the higher LTV ratio. The potential downside of this new policy is that sellers of property originally priced at HK$10 million would take the opportunity to demand a higher ceiling price of HK$12 million, with prices in the HK$12 million to HK$19.2 million band also rising. In the end, the new policy may hinder social mobility and potentially lead to negative equity during an economic downturn. Stanley Tang Pui Yan, registered architect based in Hong Kong Don’t waste isolation units once Covid-19 threat is over For 30 years, our administration has told us that its top priority is to tackle the housing issue. So well has it performed that the situation has steadily worsened and the wait for government housing is now six years . Faced with the Covid-19 virus and under pressure from Beijing, officials have, however, managed to find the land to construct 70,000 dwellings as isolation facilities in the space of months. So much for priorities. Is it too much to hope that when this particular crisis is over that rather than just tearing these units down, they might think about leasing these to those thousands of Hongkongers currently living in cage homes, subdivided housing or with three generations crowded together in a 300-square-foot 50-year-old dilapidated flat? Trevor Hughes, Pok Fu Lam
