Wait for Hong Kong public rental housing drops to 5.7 years as leading provider confident overall supply will log ‘obvious increase’ next year
- Housing Authority says figure for first quarter of 2024 for families and elderly households down 0.1 years from 5.8 years recorded in previous quarter
- It also expects average waiting time in 2024 will remain ‘steady in general but may still have slight fluctuations between quarters’
The average waiting time for a Hong Kong public rental flat has dropped slightly to 5.7 years, with the city’s major provider voicing confidence the housing supply will log an “obvious increase” from next year.
The Housing Authority revealed on Friday that the figure for the first quarter of 2024 for general applicants – families and elderly households – had eased marginally from the 5.8 years recorded in the previous quarter.
Among the 5,300 general applicants housed this quarter, about 2,800 were given refurbished flats. The remaining 2,500 were housed in new flats at Fu Tip Estate in Tai Po.
“Given that the average waiting time of [public housing] applicants for flats in the New Territories is generally shorter than those in [urban districts] by about a year … the average waiting time in the first quarter of 2024 [has been] slightly reduced by 0.1 years to 5.7 years,” the authority said.
The body also said it expected the average waiting time in 2024 would remain “steady in general but may still have slight fluctuations between quarters”.
Despite the completion of several new housing projects this year, the authority stressed that its efforts would be offset by delays caused by Aggressive Construction Company Limited, which lost its licence due to safety concerns following a spate of fatal accidents.
“Its impact on the average waiting time will take several quarters to be absorbed,” it added.
But the authority said it was confident the overall public housing supply would “register [an] obvious increase”.
The supply in Tuen Mun, Tung Chung and the northern New Territories is set to rise in 2024-25, as well as in Kwun Tong, northern Kwu Tung, northern Fanling and Sheung Shui in 2025-26.
The authority said 30,000 “light public housing” flats were also expected to be completed starting from early 2025.
“The target of capping the average waiting time at six years remains unchanged, and we are also confident that the composite waiting time for subsidised rental housing will drop to 4.5 years in 2026-27,” it added.
During this transition period, the government will continue to develop transitional housing to provide short-term accommodation.
About 127,900 applications by families and elderly residents had been submitted by the end of March, down 1,500 from the previous quarter and 18 per cent from the 155,100 registered at the end of 2017.
There were also about 92,300 applications in the non-elderly one-person category, a 28 per cent decline compared with the 127,800 at the end of 2017, the authority said.
