Hong Kong lawmakers reject proposal to revive public housing sales scheme
Hong Kong's Legislative Council rejected a proposal from Kowloon West lawmaker Leung Man-kuong to revive the sale of public rental housing and create a savings plan for wealthier tenants. The government said it is conducting a study on the issue and will release results next year.
Hong Kong's Legislative Council on 12 November 2026 rejected a proposal by Kowloon West lawmaker Leung Man-kuong to optimise public housing policy and promote upward mobility. Amendments tabled by Chan Shun-fung of the Democratic Alliance for Citizens and Lam Wai-kong of the Federation of Trade Unions were also voted down.
Mr Leung argued that with a significant increase in public housing supply expected, basic housing needs were now better protected. He suggested the government revive the sale of public rental housing flats to meet home ownership demand among lower-income groups, and study the creation of a dedicated savings plan for wealthier public housing tenants to increase incentives for home ownership and establish a ladder for upward mobility.
Several lawmakers expressed reservations. Insurance sector representative Chan Pui-leung noted the government had already commissioned a consultancy to study reviving or expanding the Home Ownership Scheme, and said such a move should not be taken before research results were available. He also said a savings plan for wealthier tenants would effectively subsidise households already benefiting from low rents, which was contrary to the original intent of public housing policy.
Property and construction sector lawmaker Wong Ho-ming said he supported promoting upward mobility in principle but found the savings plan logically inappropriate. He noted the policy for wealthier tenants was meant to encourage them to vacate flats through higher rents, and converting that penalty into a savings plan would effectively turn a punishment into a subsidy for home ownership.
Deputy Financial Secretary and acting Housing Authority director Michael Wong Wai-lun said in his opening remarks that public housing supply had improved and waiting times were shortening. The overall waiting time for public rental housing had fallen to 4.8 years at the end of June 2026, down from a record high of 6.1 years before the current administration took office, and had been at its lowest level in more than eight years for two consecutive quarters. The Housing Authority was due to release updated waiting times for the end of September the following week, and Mr Wong expressed confidence in meeting the chief executive's 2022 policy address target of reducing the waiting time to 4.5 years by the 2026/27 financial year.
On converting rental flats to home ownership, Mr Wong said the Housing Authority had launched a survey in October 2026, sending questionnaires to more than 14,000 households, including those in rental flats, subsidised sale flats and private housing. Further in-depth focus group discussions would follow. Due to the scale of the research, the government expected to release the results next year at the earliest.