Hong Kong receives over 74,300 subdivided unit registration applications, says housing chief
Hong Kong's Housing Bureau has received more than 74,300 registration applications for subdivided units under its 'simple-flat' scheme, with six regional service teams providing support to tenants. The government aims to eliminate substandard subdivided flats by 2030, backed by a five-year public ho
Hong Kong's Housing Bureau has received more than 74,300 registration applications for subdivided units under its 'simple-flat' scheme, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said on 9 October. Speaking in the Legislative Council, Ho described the response as 'ideal' and noted the scheme has been running for just over six months.
The bureau has deployed six regional service teams to provide comprehensive support to tenants, including helping eligible applicants apply for traditional public housing and 'simplified' public housing. Ho stressed that no tenant would be left homeless.
Ho said solving the city's housing problems remains a key priority for the current administration. Hong Kong's first five-year housing plan explicitly aims to eliminate substandard subdivided flats within the city by 2030. Over the five-year period from 2026/27 to 2030/31, the overall public housing construction target, including simplified public housing, is about 196,000 units. This represents an increase of more than 80 per cent compared with the five-year period when the current government took office. Of these, 70,000 public housing units will come from the Northern New Territories development area.
On simplified public housing, Ho said the programme is progressing at full speed. As of 9 October, only 1,070 units remain to be completed in order to meet the target of 30,000 simplified public housing units by the end of March 2027. As overall public housing construction continues to increase, the comprehensive waiting time for public rental housing is expected to drop to 4.5 years in the 2026/27 financial year, and further to below four years by the 2030/31 financial year.
