Research: 30% of HK households may not afford private housing

Thirty of Hong Kong incomes are sandwiched between private housing and the government's public rental housing. This trend is expected to continue for the next 20 years.

This is based on RICS' report entitled "Report on Housing Affordability in various Asian Cities and on the Forecast of Housing Needs in Hong Kong in the next 5, 10, and 20 Years". The purpose of this report is to assist the government in formulating long-term housing strategy based on the future housing needs in 20 years, and by making reference to the affordable housing policies of other Asian Countries. RICS is submitting this report to Transport & Housing Bureau for consideration when finalizing the Bureau's annual budgets to the Financial Secretary.

Commenting on the buoyant housing market in Hong Kong, Mr David Tse, RICS International Governing Councilor and Chairman of RICS Hong Kong Housing Task Force said,

"Last September RICS has commissioned the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to conduct a comprehensive study to assess the medium to long-term housing needs in Hong Kong, and the effectiveness of the affordable housing policies in various Asian Countries. The research report shows that Hong Kong is ranked the top in terms of PIR, the median house prices divided by median familial disposable incomes per annum, amongst the other Asian Cities. At present, there appears to be a mismatch between the supply of small sized flats, Class A flats, and the needs of the average households, but in recent years, we noticed that the unit price per sq ft price of large sized flats, Class C, D and E flats, of three or four bedrooms were rising much faster than those small sized flats with one or two bedrooms. RICS is calling on the government to conduct regular surveys on the future aspirations of the average households on types and sizes of flats before laying down appropriate housing and land supply policies to meet the functional and future needs of Hong Kong households."