The Hong Kong Housing Society is considering redeveloping individual Group A estates, but the move will not involve converting low-income family units into flats for higher-income households, Secretary for Transport & Housing Eva Cheng told legislators today.

The society's preliminary proposal suggests redeveloping individual Group A estates in the coming five years. These units are for low-income families needing housing and are mainly allocated to Housing Authority waiting list applicants.

As Group A units are an important source of low-rent housing, the society must carefully consider whether these units are to be converted into Group B units which target higher-income families, to avoid affecting the applicants on the waiting list.

There are now 130,000 applications on the waiting list and an average of 3,000-plus new applications a month. Miss Cheng said it remains a challenge for the Government to maintain the average waiting time for public-housing applicants at three years because development sites are limited.