Scheme will allow elderly owners of subsidised public housing to swap to smaller homes to live closer to family or have extra money

Long-term elderly owners of subsidised large public flats in Hong Kong could soon be able to swap those units for smaller ones with premium unpaid, as part of a scheme to free up homes for larger families and offer more flexibility to senior citizens in the space-starved and ageing city.

The Housing Society – the city’s second-largest public housing provider – launched the “flat-for-flat pilot scheme for elderly owners” on Wednesday. Applications will open on October 14.

“The objective is to provide eligible elderly flat owners with an option to move to another subsidised unit that better suits their needs, while vacating the existing larger flats for families in need of more living space. This will help us optimise the use of public housing resources and achieve a multi-win situation,” the society’s chief executive officer Wong Kit-loong said.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the scheme in last year’s Policy Address. The society unveiled the details on Wednesday.

Those aged 60 or above who have owned a subsidised sale unit under the society for at least 10 years with some premiums unpaid could sell their flat in the secondary market, and then buy a smaller one among the 390,000 flats with unpaid premiums in the same market, or the secondary market under the Hong Kong Housing Authority.

To qualify for the scheme, the listed family members of the owners must also be aged 60 or above, and none of them could have owned and sold any domestic property in Hong Kong in the two years before the application date.

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The society said there were about 1,300 units with owners fulfilling the requirements in 11 housing estates, namely Healthy Village (Phases 1 and 2), Ka Wai Chuen, Clague Garden Estate, Broadview Garden, Cronin Garden, Verbena Heights, Bo Shek Mansion, Lakeside Garden, Kai Tak Garden and Kingston Terrace.

Wong said there would be no time limit for elderly owners to complete the sale and purchase transactions and they would have ample time to make up their minds.

“Some elderly owners may want to move into a smaller apartment to live closer to their children, while others may want to have more cash for retirement by selling their large flat,” Wong said.

“The elderly people could have varied housing, financial and personal needs. We want to give them enough time for this big decision of selling and buying their home.”

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Democratic lawmaker Andrew Wan Siu-kin said the scheme lacked incentives for owners to sell their flats.

“This is just sticking plaster and plugging holes in the housing market where there is severe shortage of homes. The government should focus on long-term fixes, such as increasing land supply and building more houses,” he said.

Anthony Chiu Kwok-wai, executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, welcomed the move as a step in the right direction, but said the society should consider lowering the threshold to benefit more elderly owners.

“The threshold of age and years of ownership could be relaxed. The scheme should also allow more flexibility to those wishing to move into a bigger flat,” Chiu said.

The society said it would review the pilot scheme after a year and consider various requirements.