First-time home buyers get first shot at new flats

Some 5,000 eligible applicants will be the first to purchase flats under the Home Ownership Scheme in January 2013.

Chief Executive CY Leung said these applicants will be allowed to purchase the flats with premium not yet paid on the secondary market before the completion of new Home Ownership Scheme flats.

He said these buyers would have to pay a premium later if they sell the flat in the open market, and this can facilitate the turnover of Home Ownership Scheme flats and help eligible people buy flats.

The scheme will launch in January when the first batch of 5,000 buyers will be selected. The group consists of those whose monthly income is $30,000 or less and mainly first-time home buyers. The Housing Authority will announce details later.

Leung said about half those on the waiting list for public rental housing are non-elderly one-person applicants. He promised to formulate long-term housing strategy and increase public rental housing supply to shorten the waiting time for applicants aged above 35 years old.

Many non-government organisations want to use government-granted land to build youth hostels. Leung said the government proposes to fully subsidise the construction costs to help them implement the scheme as soon as possible. The target for the first round is 3,000 units.

There will be income and asset limits, and tenancy length restrictions in the scheme, to ensure turnover of the hostel places. Leung said the government is also reviewing land resources for building public rental housing to advance the completion date of projects at the later stage of planning.

The government knows it must start with long-term land development to solve the housing problem in the long run, but it will also study enhancing use of existing public and private housing, and optimising the use of urban sites, he said.