Driven by his ultimate objective of improving people’s livelihood, Chief Executive John Lee today outlined the Government’s measures to increase housing supply and further assist the grassroots in achieving home ownership.

While delivering his 2025 Policy Address, Mr Lee said that the Government will increase the supply of flats under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) and the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH).

It will also optimise the sale and alienation restriction arrangements, help more public rental housing (PRH) tenants realise home ownership, while enabling the owners of subsidised sale flats (SSFs) to enter into the private housing market.

Mr Lee pointed out that, in the five years starting from 2026-27 onwards, the overall public housing production, including Light Public Housing (LPH), will reach 189,000 units, about 80% higher than when he took office. This means that the Government is now well positioned to further assist the grassroots in achieving home ownership.

With that specific goal in mind, the Government will complete 30,000 LPH units by the first half of 2027, about 10,000 of which will be completed for intake by the end of this year, with the Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing moving closer to the target of reducing it to 4.5 years in 2026-27.

Turning to redeveloping PRH estates, Mr Lee said the Housing Authority (HA) will announce redevelopment plans for Ma Tau Wai Estate and Sai Wan Estate this year.  A study will also be conducted on the Model Housing Estate redevelopment.

The Chief Executive stated that with the increase in public housing supply, the Government will take measured steps to help citizens achieve home ownership.

On the basis that the supply of HOS flats is substantially increasing, the ratio of quotas between Green Form and White Form (WF) will be increased from 40:60 to 50:50 in order to assist more PRH tenants to become owners, while at the same time transfer the original PRH units to Waiting List applicants, benefitting both parties at the same time.

To increase opportunities for WF applicants to purchase SSFs with unpaid premium in the secondary market, the HA will increase the quota of the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) by 1,000 to 7,000, starting from the next WSM exercise. 

In addition, half of the 1,000 additional quotas will be allocated to young family and one-person applicants below 40.

To prevent forfeiture of the WSM quota because of personal preferences, the number of approval letters issued by the HA will be suitably higher than the quota set under the WSM exercise, ensuring that the quota for flat purchases can be fully utilised, in order to strive to meet purchasers’ expectations.

The ratio of larger units in HOS and GSH projects will also be increased in response to market needs, Mr Lee added.

The authorities will relax the alienation restriction period of new flats for sale from 15 years to 10 years to encourage upward mobility. This measure will be applicable starting from the next HOS and GSH sale exercises.

The “Flat-for-Flat Scheme for Elderly Owners” of the authority’s SSFs will be launched, allowing those who have reached the age of 60 and owned their flat for 10 years or more to purchase a smaller flat or a flat in a more remote area, after selling their original one in the secondary market with premium unpaid. 

In doing so, they can get additional cash to cover their living expenses, while urban or larger flats can be released for families in need to apply for.

The HA and the Housing Society will introduce a pilot scheme, allowing those who have owned an SSF for 10 years or more to let their flats with unpaid premium to eligible WF applicants after paying relevant fees, subject to a quota of 3,000.

Concerning land development, Mr Lee noted that in the next decade, the Government will get ready around 2,600 hectares of “spade ready sites”.

The Government, he explained, will improve the efficiency of land production and lower construction costs by streamlining approval processes, optimising administrative procedures, strengthening internal collaboration, applying technology, reviewing relevant standards and more, so as to safeguard public interests and meet development needs.

Among such measures, the Housing Department will set up a Project Facilitation Office to co-ordinate departments in expediting the completion of public housing projects.

Additionally, next year, the Development Bureau (DEVB) will launch a Project Cost Management Platform, establishing a market price database and applying Artificial Intelligence technology to analyse, for example, past government project cost data, to ensure greater cost effectiveness in future project designs. 

The Government will relax the gross floor area (GFA) exemption arrangement for car parks in private developments by removing the mandatory requirement of constructing underground car parks as a condition of exemption, and granting full GFA exemption if developers construct no more than two storeys of above ground car parks.

The DEVB also plans to conduct central procurement on a trial basis in the first half of next year, piloting in the procurement of commonly used materials, including steel reinforcement and Modular Integrated Construction modules (MiCs), in order to save costs. 

Moreover, the Housing Bureau will pilot the batch procurement of integrated modules of the MiC method next year. In addition, it has established a database of standard building materials to expedite the approval process.

On releasing some of the industrial land for rezoning for other uses such as residential and business uses, the Government will begin a new round of study this year and put forward recommendations next year, including the way forward for the Revitalisation Scheme for Industrial Buildings.

Taking forward urban renewal with a new mindset, the Government will relax the current arrangement for the transfer of plot ratio within the same district, by allowing cross-district transfer of unutilised plot ratio from redevelopment projects to other districts or even new development areas (NDAs), so as to enhance market incentives for redevelopment. 

On top of that, the Government will reserve three sites in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North NDAs in the Northern Metropolis for the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to construct new buildings, which will be used as replacement flats under the URA’s “Flat-for-Flat” Scheme in the future.

The Government will also suitably increase the plot ratio of private redevelopment projects, on a pilot basis, for the seven designated areas with more pressing redevelopment need.

Specifically, it will allow the increased plot ratio to be transferred for utilisation in the Northern Metropolis or other districts, or to be used for offsetting the premium payable for bidding land, lease modification in other projects or in situ land exchange.

As for enhancing transport and commuting convenience, the Transport & Logistics Bureau will publish the Transport Strategy Blueprint by the end of this year to outline directions and specific measures for transport development.

To speed up the introduction of new mass transit systems from around the world, the Government will devise a regulatory framework applicable to different system technologies and operators, and introduce a bill next year.

It is also striving to pass the legislation on regulating ride‑hailing services before the prorogation of the current-term LegCo, with a view to safeguarding the public’s travel safety, Mr Lee added.