The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Subsidised Housing Committee of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (June 16) approved the estimated public rental housing (PRH) allocation for 2023-24 and was briefed on the actual allocation in 2022-23.
"For the year 2022-23, the actual allocation was 30 888 flats (i.e. the number of flats taken up by applicants on or before March 31, 2023), representing an increase of 11.9 per cent on the original estimation. This was mainly because the flat selection procedure and intake formalities of most of the flats under the Territory-wide Overcrowding Relief Exercise and Living Space Improvement Transfer Scheme (hereinafter referred to as "the Transfer Scheme for Improving the Living Environment") in 2021-22 were postponed to 2022-23 due to the epidemic situation. For the same reason, some of the new flats in 2021-22, such as those in Blocks 2 to 6 of Queens Hill Estate (about 1 200 flats in total), could not have been taken up before the end of March 2022 and the allocation figures were reflected in 2022-23," a spokesman for the HA said.
"In addition, the number of recovered flats in 2022-23 was higher than the estimate of about 1 200, coming mainly from flats voluntarily surrendered by sitting tenants, termination of tenancy and surrender of PRH flats by tenants upon purchase of flats under Subsidised Sale Flats Schemes. For other categories where the actual allocation was less than the originally estimated allocation, we had flexibly allocated flats to PRH applicants in accordance with the actual demands of different categories of applicants," the spokesman said.
For 2023-24, it is estimated that a total of about 24 100 PRH flats, comprising about 8 500 new flats and about 15 600 recovered flats, will be available for allocation to different categories of applicants. Among them, the largest portion will go to PRH applicants with about 18 000 flats (74.7 per cent) to be allocated to them.
"This estimation is not an upper limit. We will closely monitor the actual allocation figures of other categories to ensure any surplus of flats demanded could be allocated to PRH applicants before the end of the year," the spokesman said.
"The annual allocation quota for non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System (QPS) is set at 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants with an upper limit of 2 200 flats, and therefore the allocation quota for QPS applicants in 2023-24 is 1 800 flats. If the actual supply of flats turns out to be less than our estimate, we will keep the number of flats for allocation to QPS applicants to not more than 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants.
"We will continue to launch the Express Flat Allocation Scheme in 2023-24 to provide PRH applicants with an extra opportunity to gain earlier access to PRH," the spokesman said.
Moreover, 300 flats will be reserved for the category of clearance rehousing residents affected by clearance projects planned by different departments, including Kwu Tung North/Fanling North New Development Areas Project, Hung Shui Kiu Development Area Project, Cha Kwo Ling Development Area Project, as well as other Government's squatter clearances, emergency clearances, unauthorised rooftop structure clearances and so forth. Another 200 flats will be set aside for rehousing residents affected by the Urban Renewal Authority's redevelopment projects scheduled for 2023-24.
"As estate clearance projects have yet to commence, it is not necessary to reserve any flats under this category in 2023-24," the spokesman said.
"For the category of Compassionate Rehousing (CR), 900 flats will be reserved for 2023-24. This figure is not an upper limit and we will follow the established policy to handle all the demands for CR as recommended by the Social Welfare Department," he said.
In addition, 3 700 flats will be used for various transfer purposes in 2023-24, among which 1 100 flats will be used for the Transfer of Under-occupation Households so that more large flats can be recovered for easing the pressing demand of applicants with four or more household members. Furthermore, as with last year, around 1 000 flats will be reserved for applicants under the Transfer Scheme for Improving the Living Environment in 2023-24. The remaining 1 600 flats will be flexibly deployed for other transfer purposes including Special Transfer, Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme, Full Rent Exemption for Elderly Under-occupation Transfer, Management Transfer, etc.
"We will reserve 1 000 flats under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme in 2023-24 as in 2022-23," the spokesman said.
"We will closely monitor any changes in the circumstances and will maintain flexibility in the allocation of PRH flats to ensure optimisation of resources," he added.
(Please refer to the table on the breakdown of estimated allocation for different categories in 2023-24.)
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