Average waiting time for public flat in Hong Kong creeps up to 5.9 years, hitting 22-year high
- The wait grew by more than a month in the third quarter of this year
- As of the end of September, there were 254,500 unresolved applications for public housing
The wait, the longest it has been in 22 years, grew by more than a month in the third quarter of this year, according to figures released by the authority on Thursday.
Released every quarter, the statistics are used as a reference for current applicants, and are based on data collected from those who received public flats in the past 12 months.
As of the end of September, there were about 153,700 outstanding general applications for public housing from families and single seniors, and another 100,800 from non-elderly singles.
In the third quarter of 2021, flats were allocated to about 2,800 general applicants, some 270 of whom were single seniors.
The waiting time for single elderly applicants in the third quarter was slightly shorter than the overall average, at 3.8 years, though that was still the longest it had been since 2000.
Ever since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, authorities have promised to bring public housing waits for families down to three years. Waiting times were at their longest right after the handover, averaging 6.6 years in 1997 and 1998, before edging down to six years in 1999.
