Housing Chief Confident of 4.5-Year Public Housing Target Despite Quality Concerns at Tung Chung Site
Crhk · 5 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
Housing Bureau Chief Ho Yung-yin (何永賢) reaffirmed confidence on Wednesday that public housing combined waiting times will drop to 4.5 years during the current government term, with a longer-range target of under 4 years by fiscal year 2030-31. The government has completed 26,000 units of simple public housing to address urgent housing needs, while the Northern Metropolis is positioned as the primary source of future subsidized housing supply. However, quality concerns emerged at a Tung Chung public housing development where follow-up concrete tests showed strength levels exceeding requirements by 23 to 67 percent.
Key Points
- The first Five-Year Plan sets a target of reducing public housing combined waiting time to 4.5 years in 2026-27, with further reduction to below 4 years by 2030-31
- Ho acknowledged that waiting times will fluctuate due to factors including project sizes, completion rates, and public housing unit recoveries, but expressed confidence in meeting the 4.5-year target
- The Northern Metropolis offers large, flat land parcels with lower costs compared to urban sites, enabling construction of 5,000 to 6,000 units per estate with high efficiency
- A total of 26,000 simple public housing units have been completed, supplementing transitional housing to accelerate improvements for residents in urgent need
- At Tung Chung Area 42 public housing project, initial concrete samples from four buildings failed testing; follow-up samples showed 17 percent of samples exceeding requirements by 23 to 67 percent, with podium area construction suspended
Why It Matters
The government ability to deliver on its housing targets will directly affect hundreds of thousands of families enduring prolonged waits for public housing, particularly those living in subdivided units. The Northern Metropolis strategy represents a long-term bet on suburban development to address Hong Kong chronic housing shortage, while the quality issues at Tung Chung highlight the challenges of accelerating construction without compromising building standards .
The government ability to deliver on its housing targets will directly affect hundreds of thousands of families enduring prolonged waits for public housing, particularly those living in subdivided units. The Northern Metropolis strategy represents a long-term bet on suburban development to address Hong Kong chronic housing shortage, while the quality issues at Tung Chung highlight the challenges of accelerating construction without compromising building standards .