Hong Kong can adjust housing ratio when wait time for public flats improves: minister

Development minister says current 70-30 public-private flat ratio decided back when authorities were focused on boosting government housing supply

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Hong Kong authorities are battling to increase the supply of public flats. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:43pm, 21 Jul 2024Updated: 7:13pm, 21 Jul 2024

Hong Kong will have room to adjust the public-private housing ratio once authorities have managed to bring down the waiting time for government rental flats in the next few years, the development minister has said.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said on Sunday that the current 70-30 public-private flat ratio was decided at a time when authorities were focused on boosting the public housing supply, with scope available for adjustment once levels had exceeded the government’s goal in the coming decade.

“We are looking into different scenarios for housing ratios in some of the new development zones, such as the San Tin Technopole,” Linn told a television show on Sunday, referring to a government plan to build an innovation and technology (I&T) hub near the border with mainland China.

The minister said authorities would look at the possibility of adopting a 50-50 split in some areas that fell under the Northern Metropolis mega project, such as Tsim Bei Tsui, as the current 70-30 policy could be unsuitable for sites set aside for I&T purposes that were expected to draw talent.

The Housing Authority said in May that the average waiting time for a public rental flat had dropped slightly to 5.7 years, compared with the 5.8 years recorded in the previous quarter.