Housing authority proposes regularising sales of recovered Hong Kong public housing

To fulfil home ownership dreams for local residents, the Housing Authority will propose affordable Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) flats to be launched alongside Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) flats. 

There are 39 Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) housing estates in Hong Kong where tenants can buy the public housing units they are living in. If the residents do not intend to buy them back and move out, the flats are recalled. Subsequently, the Housing Authority has sold these recovered flats twice in the past to eligible Green Form (PRH) applicants, with positive reception. Today, the HA’s Subsidised Housing Committee reportedly met today to discuss the sale of these recovered flats on a permanent basis. The HA intends to use existing pricing mechanisms and resale restrictions, and put them up for sale alongside flats under the HOS, Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme and Express Flat Allocation Scheme. For example, these flats are available for sale at a price as low as HK$300,000, which is expected to help many eligible public housing tenants fulfil their dreams of home ownership. ◆Man Lam 

The Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) was introduced in early 1998 to allow tenants of selected estates to buy the public housing units they were living in. The scheme ended in August 2005, and in 2021, the Housing Authority first included some 800 flats recovered from 39 TPS estates in the then-Green Home Purchase Scheme for purchase by public housing tenants, followed by another batch of recovered flats. 

It is understood that due to the satisfactory sales response to the two launched batches, the HA plans to sell the flats on a regular basis, targeting Green Form applicants and eligible applicants under the Express Flat Allocation Scheme. 

The source explained that the sale of flats to White Form (private) buyers would reduce the number of PRH flats available for allocation, so the HA would not open the sale to White Form buyers at this stage, while existing tenants of TPS estates would still have the right to buy the PRH flats they are living in at any time. 

Proposed use of existing TPS pricing mechanism

Regarding the prices of these flats, the HA intends to follow the existing TPS pricing mechanism and the existing alienation restrictions for the same type of flats. A review of flat prices in the last TPS estates shows that many are available at prices as low as HK$300,000, which is expected to be affordable for many eligible public housing tenants. 

In terms of transfer restrictions, the HA proposed that within two years from the first sale date of the TPS flat, if the owner wishes to transfer the flat, he must sell it back to the HA at the original price. The actual amount of the special discount received at the time of purchase must be refunded at the same time. Apart from reselling the flat to an eligible member in the HOS second-hand owners can also pay a premium to the HA and then sell or rent. 

Actual allocation of public housing units: 30,900 units per year 

In addition, there are reports that the estimated allocation of PRH in 2023/24 will be 24,100 units, of which 18,000 units will come from PRH applications, 16,200 units from "general applicants" and 1,800 units from non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System， followed by other buyers which are expected to account for about 3,700 units. However, after a formal headcount, the actual allocation of PRH in 2022/23 is about 30,900 units, which is more than 10 per cent higher than the original estimate.

A review of the data shows that the actual number of flats allocated in 2021/22 was 25,900, which is only 83.7 per cent of the original estimate, meaning that the actual number of flats allocated in 2022/23 has been exceeded. The HA’s Subsidised Housing Committee will also discuss the estimated allocation of public housing for 2023/24 at its meeting today. 

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