The Home Assistance Loan Scheme, launched in January last year, will be terminated after a thorough review, Housing Authority Subsidised Housing Committee Chairman Ng Shui-lai says.

Approval from the Housing Authority to cease the scheme will be sought shortly.

Explaining the decision, Mr Ng said home ownership promotion is no longer one of the authority's policy objectives and priorities, and to facilitate low-income families to acquire home ownership is not consistent with its overall policy.

The move will enable the authority to concentrate its limited resources on providing public rental housing to those in need, a more focused role that aligns with the overall housing strategy.

Mr Ng continued: "This will also enable the authority to withdraw from performing the role of commercial banks and interfering with the banking sector in providing loan facilities to flat purchasers with the use of public funds.

"The decision of home ownership should be left to the market and should not be swayed by intervention from the government with the provision of the loan scheme.

Withdrawal should benefit whole community

"The authority is determined to withdraw from the residential property market with minimal market intervention, which is important in sustaining a healthy and steady property market and this should be beneficial to the community as a whole," he added.

The Home Assistance Loan Scheme offers interest-free loans of up to $530,000 or monthly mortgage subsidies of up to $3,800 to help eligible families and single people buy their own flats.

Since its launch, 4,001 loans and 4,160 subsidies have been granted. Applications closed in November last year as the number of applications received exceeded the initial quota of 10,000 approved for the scheme.