Gov’t to expand housing supply, speed up redevelopment

Between 2026-27 and 2030-31, public housing production is expected to reach 189,000 units.

Chief Executive John Lee announced a series of housing and land development measures in his 2025 Policy Address, aiming to increase housing supply and aid residents in achieving home ownership.

The government will expand the supply of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) flats whilst loosening restrictions on resale.

This aims to give more public rental housing (PRH) tenants a chance to purchase homes and allow subsidised sale flats (SSF) owners to enter the private market.

Between 2026-27 and 2030-31, public housing production, including Light Public Housing (LPH), is expected to reach 189,000 units.

Of this, 30,000 LPH units will be completed by the first half of 2027, with 10,000 ready for occupation by the end of this year. The government expects these additions to shorten average waiting times for subsidised rental housing to 4.5 years by 2026-27.

Redevelopment plans will be rolled out for Ma Tau Wai Estate and Sai Wan Estate this year, and a study will also be conducted on the Model Housing Estate redevelopment.

The quota ratio for HOS applications will be adjusted from 40:60 to 50:50 between Green Form and White Form (WF) applicants.

The White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) quota will rise from 6,000 to 7,000, with half of the new allocation reserved for young families and applicants under 40.

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

Resale restrictions on new subsidised flats will be reduced from 15 years to 10, starting from the next HOS and GSH sale exercises.

A “Flat-for-Flat Scheme for Elderly Owners” will be introduced for SSFs over 60, allowing them to downsize or move to a less central location whilst releasing larger or urban units for families.

The Housing Authority 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 an unpaid premium to eligible WF applicants after paying relevant fees, subject to a quota of 3,000.

On land development, the government aims to make 2,600 hectares of land “spade-ready” over the next decade and improve efficiency through streamlined approvals, wider use of technology, and cost-control measures.

The Housing Department will set up a Project Facilitation Office to speed up housing projects.

The Development Bureau (DEVB) will launch a Project Cost Management Platform next year, establishing a market price database and applying artificial intelligence technology to analyse, for example, past government project cost data.

Rules on car park construction in private housing will be relaxed, central procurement of building materials will be trialled in the first half of the year, and the Housing Bureau will pilot the batch procurement of integrated modules of the Modular Integrated Construction (MiCs) method next year.

Industrial land rezoning will be studied again, with new proposals expected next year.

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).

Three sites in the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North NDAs in the Northern Metropolis will be set aside for replacement housing under the Urban Renewal Authority’s (URA) Flat-for-Flat scheme.

Beyond housing, 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.

The government will devise a regulatory framework applicable to different system technologies and operators and introduce a bill next year.

Lee also added that it is 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.