Explainer | What’s the difference among Hong Kong’s subsidised housing schemes, and who can buy?
- Hong Kong’s subsidised housing offers a pathway to homeowner for those who meet maximum income restrictions, and for general buyers
Who can buy under the Home Ownership Scheme?
Public housing tenants can buy either new or used flats under the scheme without paying a premium to the Housing Authority if they surrender the public housing flats they are renting.
Hong Kong families with a maximum gross monthly income of HK$60,000 (US$7,600) and assets of HK$1.96 million or below, or one-person households earning half the monthly amount, are eligible to join the Hong Ownership Scheme (HOS). Families and individuals who qualify are eligible for White Form Status, enabling them to buy both new or used flats without paying a premium.
Those who are less well-off and are tenants of public rental housing can try the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme, which was launched in 2016 to sell flats cheaper than those under the HOS.
Those who fail to qualify because of excessive income can buy previously lived-in HOS flats on the open market as long as a premium is paid to the government. HOS flats are sold at a market rate discount, determined by an affordability test using the median household income.
What are the resale requirements?