Owners of government-subsidised flats are being offered loan guarantees to make it easier to rent or sell their homes on the open market.
The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation is offering guarantees of up to HK$3 million to help Home Ownership Scheme flat-owners borrow money to pay the government premium on their homes, without which the flats cannot be sold or let.
The programme, known as the Premium Loan Guarantee Scheme, is one of the measures suggested by the government and the Housing Authority in May to revitalise the market for pre-owned HOS flats.
Of more than 320,000 such flats, the premium has been paid on about 65,000.
The corporation's guarantee would enable owners to take out second mortgages, which they would repay by instalments along with their first mortgage payments for up to 30 years.
The corporation would charge a guarantee fee of 1.8 per cent to 3.8 per cent of the premium loan annually for a maximum of three years.