Housing policy is the main policy report

Some polls reflect that more than half of the respondents believe that the Hong Kong Government has the responsibility to help the public to have the opportunity to become a landlord in their lifetime. Chief Executive Lin Zhengyue referred to the Singaporean model for the new housing policy, but it was not so extreme. The October policy address should have a clearer blueprint for the housing and implementation plan.

The price of private buildings is too high. Hong Kong people envy the lion city.

According to a poll conducted by a think tank commissioned by the University, 53% of the respondents believe that the Hong Kong Government has the responsibility to subsidize Hong Kong permanent residents with general income and have one chance to become a landlord in their lifetime. At the same time, respondents’ outlook on housing in Hong Kong has become more pessimistic than the survey three years ago.

The Government can help the public to have the opportunity to become a landlord in their lifetime. The situation is undoubtedly like Singapore. At present, not only 82% of the population in Singapore are in public housing, but also up to 79% of the public housing units they buy.

Hong Kong people envy Singapore’s housing policy. It is not difficult to understand that on the one hand, the property prices are already high, and the high-income earners have no father-in-law, and it is difficult to buy a home. At the same time, the government announced in June that the new housing policy is based on home ownership. Referring to the Singapore model, the public has naturally raised expectations for the government to help the home buyers.

But Singapore’s extreme model is only a reference to the Hong Kong government, not a goal.

On the one hand, Lin Zheng has shown that the Hong Kong Government is willing to provide subsidies for higher-income people to sell houses as the Singapore government, which is equivalent to Singapore HDB flats; but stressed that it does not intend to split the public and private markets like Singapore. After all, such changes are undoubtedly overwhelming for the housing market in Hong Kong. They may not be appropriate and they will touch too many vested interests.

On the other hand, at present, Hong Kong does not have sufficient conditions. The supply of land is seriously inadequate. There is sufficient land for the “Hong Kong” “short housing”. In the revenue and expenditure of the Government, I am afraid that the low tax system will be shaken.

Speeding up the construction of land storage, housing policy is not empty talk

But after all, the public housing policy of the Hong Kong Government has shifted to home ownership. The Hong Kong Government should give the public a proper and not excessive expectation. In the long-term housing policy, what is the target of the Hong Kong Government? Which level of citizenship does it help to buy? What are the short, medium and long-term goals of public housing, green housing, home ownership, and the first four steps in public housing? The public expects Lin Zheng to hand over a clear blueprint in his policy address in October.

Equally important, if there is not enough land supply for the Hong Kong Government to establish a land reserve, the housing policy can only be discussed emptyly. Therefore, the policy address should also explain what plans the Hong Kong Government has on the extension. Although the land supply debate is still going on, the progress of the land expansion should not be delayed, especially if the reclamation requires a long time to prepare and implement. At present, there are any reasonable plans to study their feasibility as soon as possible and strive to implement them as soon as possible so as to make up the land supply gap in the short and medium term and support the housing policy, social and economic development needs in the long run.