The Housing Authority’s Subsidised Housing Committee today approved two enhancement measures in relation to subsidised sale flats (SSFs), to help members of the public achieve home ownership.

One of the measures is lowering the home ownership threshold for families with newborns. Starting from the next Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) sale exercise, the maximum mortgage loan-to-value ratio for White Form family applicants with newborns will be raised from 90% to 95%, in line with that for Green Form applicants.

All families with children aged three or below at the HOS sale exercise application deadline will benefit from this measure.

The other approved measure is relaxing the alienation restriction period – the timeframe during which owners face strict rules on selling, letting, or assigning their properties – for SSFs first put up for sale between 2022 and 2025. The period will be shortened from 15 years to 10 years from the date of first assignment. This is to encourage more homeowners to pursue upward mobility along the housing ladder.

The authority said the two new measures will help more families move up the housing ladder while also promoting the SSF turnover.