Hong Kong Housing Authority: Public housing completion exceeded expectations, gradually reversing the situation of a "heavy head and light tail" supply.

The Director of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, Stanley Ho, stated in an interview that the public housing completion rate has reached 168,000 units since the 2022/23 financial year, achieving 54% of the target of 308,000 units set in the "Long-term Housing Strategy" for the next 10 years. This surpasses the original estimate of 105,000 units and gradually reverses the situation of "front-light, back-heavy" supply. He emphasized that under government-led stable housing supply, young people are encouraged to plan their property ownership towards subsidized sale housing, and urged citizens in urgent need to apply for simplified public housing. Stanley Ho pointed out that over 20,000 units of simplified public housing will be completed in the next two years. The ratio of public housing to subsidized sale housing will gradually adjust from 7:3 to 6:4. He mentioned that last year, the oversubscription rate for Home Ownership Scheme flats was only 14 times, showing positive development, and pointed out that the oversubscription rate for similar housing in Singapore was only 5 to 6 times, indicating room for improvement in Hong Kong. The Housing Authority has introduced advanced technology in recent years, such as the development of "Smart Clip" in collaboration with the Nano and Advanced Materials Research Institute, which uses "ring clip wall connection technology" to reduce construction processes and time. Stanley Ho described this as the evolution of "modular synthetic building method 2.0," and it is expected to be applied in the upcoming public housing project in North San Tin. In the future, they will develop lighter and better soundproof concrete, and apply artificial intelligence to streamline building design and costs. Stanley Ho mentioned that after inspecting social housing projects in Spain and Portugal, the government intends to simplify public housing design based on the principles of "practical, affordable, and eco-friendly without waste," including not installing electrical rooms, not creating false ceilings in the lobby, and installing automatic sensor lights in public spaces to reduce building materials and labor costs. Starting this year, Home Ownership Scheme flats will not include kitchen stoves, clothes drying racks, and other facilities, as many residents do not consider them necessary. She pointed out that citizens' lifestyles have changed, and open and flexible spaces are more popular. The government will consider the needs of the next 10 to 20 years, such as retaining traditional closed "clogged kitchens" or converting them to open kitchens, and will seek feedback to optimize design.