Downsizing in Hong Kong’s crowded housing market to be made easier for city’s elderly residents looking for a second-hand home
Housing Society aims to launch pilot scheme aimed at owners of subsidised flats in mid-2019, and hopes it will benefit young and old alike
A scheme to help Hong Kong’s elderly residents living in subsidised housing downsize will start in the middle of next year, the chairman of the city’s second-largest public-sector housing provider said on Thursday.
Under the existing system, owners of government-subsidised flats who bought their homes at a discount on the market rate have two choices. They can either choose to sell their flats to the private market, after paying back the discounted amount, or sell their flats in the second-hand subsidised housing market, without having to pay back the premium.
The second-hand market is markedly cheaper than the largely unaffordable private market, because flats have not had the premium paid. However, sellers in the second-hand market are unable to buy one back in the same market, because flats in the market are only available to buyers who have passed a means test, and have not owned any subsidised flats before.