The Home Ownership Scheme (HOS; Chinese: 居者有其屋計劃) is a subsidized-sale programme of public housing in Hong Kong managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. It was instituted in the 1970s as part of the government policy for public housing, to give the poor a chance to purchase as well as rent public housing from the government.
Under the scheme, the government sells apartment flats to eligible low-income residents at prices far below the overall market, with discounts usually between 30 and 40 percent,[1] and also provides subsidies on the land value. It restricts reselling of the units in the second-hand market to low-income residents. For certain projects, the Housing Authority entered into arrangements with local private developers to provide property for sale under the Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS).
Between 1995 and 2000, the government also offered the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme for lower middle class families whose incomes exceeded the Home Ownership Scheme requirements, but still had trouble affording private housing. In 2003, falling real estate values led the government to pause the construction of new Home Ownership Scheme estates indefinitely, although the scheme remains in force at existing estates.
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The first such plan was launched in 1978 and the first batch of flats became available in 1980, the first estates being Yuet Lai Court (悅麗苑) in Kwai Chung, Shun Chi Court (順緻苑) in Kwun Tong, Shan Tsui Court (山翠苑) in Chai Wan, Chun Man Court (俊民苑) in Ho Man Tin, Sui Wo Court (穗禾苑) in Sha Tin and Yue Fai Court (漁暉苑) in Aberdeen.
Average unit selling prices were HK$120,000. However, citing the fact that flats from the Mei Sun Lau development were selling at prices above the prevailing market prices, press favourable to the Chinese authorities criticised the Government of profiteering from this scheme.[2]
In 1987, forecasting that the demand for home-ownership was on the rise, the Government launched a plan to redevelop the older housing estates, and introduced a greater choice of apartments available for purchase by public housing tenants. Initially, 2,000 scheme members would be given a HK$50,000 interest-free loan with which to make the downpayment on their new private-sector homes.[3]
In December 1991, there was a huge rush to buy 6,452 Housing Authority properties in 17 projects. Flats were to be sold at a discount of 40%, the most attractive for several years. The cost was approximately one-third compared with properties in similar private developments.[4]
In 2000, the scheme was caught up in a short-piling scandal which resulted in the resignation of Housing Authority Chief Rosanna Wong, and a censure for Housing Director Tony Miller.[5] The construction of 2 blocks of Yu Chui Court in Sha Tin was delayed as it had to be demolished and rebuilt at an estimated cost of HK$250 million. The Wai Kee Group was implicated, and some of its companies were delisted from Government projects following the publication of the Strickland Report.
Public housing units in Home Ownership Scheme housing estates are subject to sale restrictions of the Housing Ordinance. The Home Ownership Scheme Secondary Market is only open to eligible low-income residents and low-income tenants of rental public housing. Three years after being assigned HOS public housing units, owners are allowed to obtain a certificate from the Housing Authority to place their homes in the HOS Secondary Market, without paying the subsidised land premiums (normally 35–50 per cent discount to the prevailing market). Owners who have sold their HOS public housing units will no longer be eligible for any form of public housing. In general, they are allowed after five years to apply to place their homes in the HOS Secondary Market without the paying subsidised land premium, or to apply for removal of sale restrictions by first paying the full subsidies and the land premiums to the Housing Authoritiy, as decided by the Director of Housing.
In 2002, developers complained of weakness in property prices, claiming the housing marketplace was largely distorted by excessive unfair competition from schemes such as the HOS. It was pointed out that a public rental tenant moving into a second-hand Home Ownership Scheme flat would receive three lots of subsidies.[6] Government halted the PSPS, developments which were in progress at the time were either transformed into public housing, or sold off to private developers.[7] Construction of new HOS estates was suspended in November 2002, and it was also announced that the TPS would end.[6] [8]
One PSPS project, the 2,470 flat Hung Hom Peninsula built by New World Development and Sun Hung Kai Properties,[9] was sold for a below-market land premium of HK$864 million to New World Development, who subsequently sold off half share to Sun Hung Kai. In 2004, the consortium announced the demolition of these buildings to make way for luxury apartments, to be faced with huge popular outcry about the needless destruction of "perfectly good buildings" to satisfy "corporate greed". In an unprecedented about-turn, the developers withdrew the plan on 10 December 2004.[10]
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