The Demand and Supply of Public Rental Housing in Hong Kong PDF Download

Author: Yau-Cheong Leo Kan
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
ISBN: 9781361363928
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This dissertation, "The Demand and Supply of Public Rental Housing in Hong Kong: an Analysis" by Yau-cheong, Leo, Kan, 簡祐昌, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Housing is politically important and thus governments tend to intervene in housing market a lot. Today, housing is one of most significant livelihood issues in Hong Kong. Solving the housing problem is accorded with top priority by the current Government. Therefore, the Government formed the Long Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee in September 2012 to make recommendations on housing strategy of Hong Kong for the next ten years. One of the areas for study is the sharp increase in number of Waiting List applications which is indeed an expression of imbalance between demand and supply for public rental housing. After the Global Financial Crisis, the number of Waiting List applications has doubled in five years, at a compound annual growth rate of15.4%. Such increase is a combined result of increase in demand, decrease in supply and inefficient allocation of public rental housing for Waiting List applicants. This dissertation firstly attempts to find out the factors and root causes leading to this phenomenon, and then tries to work out some possible solutions for solving the present problem of public rental housing. By analyzing the components of housing system namely demand, supply and allocation, the root causes leading to their changes are studied, with aim to explain the recent sharp increase in Waiting List applications for public rental housing in Hong Kong. The areas of analyses include the demographic changes, single non-elderly applicants, affordability problem for private housing, supply of new production and recovery of public rental housing flats for Waiting List applicants, eligibility for public rental housing, and the efficiency of allocation mechanism. In addition, the desire of Waiting List applicants for public rental housing is also studied through a questionnaire survey because similar secondary data are not available. Lastly, due to the inelasticity of supply of housing to demand, it is essential for the Government to take timely measures before crisis is happened which may eventually affect the effective governance, suggestions are thus made accordingly in the last part of this dissertation with aim to reduce the sustained imbalance between supply and demand for public rental housing in Hong Kong. DOI: 10.5353/th_b5334629 Subjects: Public housing - China - Hong Kong

Author: 簡祐昌
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Public housing
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Author: Yue Chim Richard Wong
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
ISBN: 9888208659
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Land supply, property values, and housing provision are inextricably linked with the city’s economic growth and questions of economic equality. In Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, Yue Chim Richard Wong traces the history of Hong Kong’s postwar housing policy. He then discusses current housing problems and their solutions, drawing on examples from around the world. Wong argues that housing policy in Hong Kong, with its multiple, often incompatible objectives, and its focus on supply over demand, can no longer satisfy the needs of a diverse and dynamic population. He recommends three simple low-cost policies to promote homeownership and social mobility: sell public rental housing units to the sitting tenants; make subsidized homes more affordable; and reform the public housing program along lines adopted in Singapore, where government-built housing may be resold or leased in a free market. This is the second of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. The first, Diversity and Occasional Anarchy, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013, examines the growing contradictions in Hong Kong’s economy predicament in historical context.

Author: Man-Yum Wong
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781361364925
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This dissertation, "A Critical Review of the Housing Policies on Tackling Under-occupation of Public Rental Housing Flats in Hong Kong" by Man-yum, Wong, 黃文欽, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Similar to many other countries, in Hong Kong, housing has long been a very difficult issue to manage. It is also one of the pressing social issues that the government has to face with urgently and tactfully. Given by the exorbitant high property prices and landlords increase their properties rent in recent years, the current problem in Hong Kong is a great deal number of people, especially the young generation, cannot afford to buy home or even rent apartment in private property market. Thinking despairingly that home-owning is an unrealistic dream, most people applied for Public Rental Housing as their last resort to be housed. This sort of thinking is somewhat shown by the growing number of applicants in Waiting List for public rental housing flats. The growing number of applicants, by and large, indicating the demand of subsidized housing has never been subsided and also meant applicants need to wait much longer for allocation. Unfortunately, supply of flats has persistently fallen short of demand. There has been no adequate increase in subsidized flats'' supply in the past few years. The number of completed flats in 2012 is really not comparable with the number of applicants in the queue for public housing. Even, by adding the 15,000 new units each year as committed by the chief executive Mr. CY LEUNG, the public housing stock still cannot effectively satisfy the overwhelming demand of public rental housing. In view of the lack of supply of new flats, there has been demanded that the Government should act creatively to provide more flats to ensure quick allocation. Under this circumstance, the better utilization of existing PRH stock is becoming more essential and important. It is not hard to find from various sources that there are already many studies in evaluating the efficacy of the so called "well-off tenants policies," such as the Housing Subsidy Policy, while little studies touch on the issue of under-occupation situation of public flats -an rather unfair phenomenon that the average living density of a household is more than allowed. Under-occupation policy is the policy implemented by the Housing Authority for maximizing the rational utilization of public housing resources so that larger subsidized flats can be recovered and reallocated to those in genuine needs and reducing unnecessary wastage of precious housing resources. In view of this, the dissertation is going to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy on under-occupation implemented by Housing Authority. In order to response the criticism on the equity and fairness towards the under-occupation issue, the dissertation is also written with an aim to evaluate these aspects and explores with objective assessment by adopting qualitative research methods, such as surveys and questionnaires. Questionnaires will be dispatched to residents in various housing estates to collect necessary information and opinions for analysis the equity and effectiveness of the policy. Hypothetical analysis and literature reviews will also be conducted through comparing different related official publications and journals. This dissertation is going to evaluate, based on empirical study and literature review, the implication and effectiveness of the policy adopted by Housing Authority to tackle on the problem of under-occupation of public rental housing flats and, with great ambiti

Author: Tak-Kin Lau
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
ISBN: 9781361122969
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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This dissertation, "Relationship Between Subsidized Housing and the Private Housing Marketin Hong Kong" by Tak-kin, Lau, 劉德健, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Abstract The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) is a statutory body responsible for providing subsidized housing in Hong Kong, which accommodates about 50% of the population. Subsidized housing mainly includes Public Rental Housing (PRH) flats, Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats, and Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS) flats. PRH flats are intended for rental to the lowest income groups, while HOS and PSPS flats are for sale to middle income groups. Since subsidized housing plays such an important role in Hong Kong, this study will examine the relationship between the supply of subsidized housing and private housing's market performance. Two hypotheses are set. One is that an increase in the supply of subsidized housing would lower the price of private housing. The other is that the negative effect of PRH supply on housing prices is stronger than that of HOS/PSPS because PRH offers greater subsidies and involves a larger segment of the population, despite its more stringent entry criteria. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Quarterly data from 1980 to 2002 was collected. Since property prices are likely to be affected by factors other than the supply of subsidized housing, variables such as rental levels, unemployment rates, interest rates, and private housing completion were included as controls. The regression results showed that increasing the supply of PRH and HOS/PSPS produced a negative effect on private housing prices. Moreover, the negative effect of PRH is significant at the 5% level, while that of HOS/PSPS is not. This may imply that controlling the supply of PRH, rather II than HOS/PSPS, is a more effective way for the government to influence private housing's market performance, given that the costs of controlling both are similar. This can be done by altering the supply of PRH, adjusting the subsidized rental rates, or changing the entry criteria. The other implication of the study is that the government may also take measures to drive the demand for private housing, because rental levels, unemployment rates, and interest rates are significant factors affecting private housing prices. A fundamental recovery of the economy is important for stimulating the general public's demand for property investment. A deep understanding of the implications from different types of public housing and other demand factors should help policymakers formulate better policies for the housing market. III DOI: 10.5353/th_b3527847 Subjects: Housing - China - Hong Kong Real property - China - Hong Kong

Author: Yiu-Kei Tang
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781361332191
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This dissertation, "The Transferability of Housing Voucher System in Hong Kong" by Yiu-kei, Tang, 鄧耀基, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: This dissertation is about the use of in-cash housing subsidy, in the form of housing voucher, to deliver housing welfare in Hong Kong. This type of subsidy is currently the major type of housing assistance implemented in the United States since 1970s for improving the deteriorating public housing stock as well as the concentrated poverty and racial segregated neighbourhoods developed in the public housing projects. As a foreign policy, the research has taken the academic approach of policy transfer to assess the possibility of importing this American programme for domestic use. Housing subsidies exist in two forms, namely supply side (producer-based, in-kind) subsidy or demand side (consumer-based, in-cash) subsidy. The former refers to the direct construction of social housing by the government or private sector project facilitated by the government via financial incentives, such as construction grants or tax concessions. Hong Kong public housing is using this kind of provision. As for demand side subsidy, the beneficiaries receive financial support from the government in order to enhance the recipients' affordability in housing. As far as renting is concerned, such kind of consumer subsidy can be rental allowance payable in cash or housing voucher redeemable by the landlord. The American Housing Choice Voucher Program is a prominent example. In 2001, the Hong Kong Housing Authority has also implemented a trial policy on disseminating rental allowances to eligible elderly public housing tenants but was called off later. If the program worked satisfactorily, the government would consider extending this policy to ordinary applicants of public housing as well. In-kind housing welfare is provided through administrative assignment, the prospective tenants cannot choose which area to reside and their choices on housing units are very restrictive. Since housing location will influence a person's access to job, education and other chances of life, consumer based housing subsidy allows beneficiary to exercise greater freedom of choice in housing. Policy transfer is about borrowing foreign policy tools or measures for domestic use to solve problems of similar nature. It is a process by which knowledge about policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in one political system is used in the development of policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in another political system. In evaluating the implementation of housing voucher in Hong Kong, this dissertation using policy transfer theorists' multi-level approach in evaluating the macro and micro settings of the policy framework. The macro level will look upon the political, social and economic contexts between U.S. and Hong Kong that embed public housing policy, while the micro level is an examination of the responses of selected actors in policy transfer that facilitate or hinder the transfer. Upon the research findings, both the macro and micro level analyses lead to the conclusion that the transferability of housing voucher system in Hong Kong is relatively low. DOI: 10.5353/th_b5137511 Subjects: Housing subsidies - China - Hong Kong

Author: Oi-Lan Tam
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
ISBN: 9781361364895
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This dissertation, "The Quota and Points System of Hong Kong's Public Rental Housing" by Oi-lan, Tam, 譚愛蘭, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Prior to 1985, individuals were generally not allowed to apply for public rental housing (PRH) on their own. In 1985, in order to response to the demand from the elderly and those affected by redevelopment or living in temporary housing areas, the restriction was released. The release of restriction attracts many one-person households to apply PRH. In 1989/90, applicants of age 18 to 24 occupied 4% of the newly registered Waiting List (WL) One-person Applications. But in 2004/05, the age group 18 to 24 applicants occupy 21% of the newly registered applications (Hong Kong Housing Authority, Housing Subsidised Committee SHC 58/2005, p.1 of Annex B). The Hong Kong Housing Authority found that the sharp increase number of Non-elderly One-person Applicants has adversely impacted to the 3 years rehousing performance pledge. It started to address the housing priority problem through the introduction of Quota and Points System (QPS) in September 2005. The Points System is based on two factors to assign points - the age of the applicant and whether the applicant is a PRH tenant or not. The priority of Non-elderly One-person WL applicants will be determined according to the points received. The more points the Applicant scores, the top priority and the earlier the Applicant will be offered a flat, subject to the fulfillment of all the other PRH eligibility criteria. Housing Authority sets an annual quota for Non-elderly One-person Applicants. This study aims at reviewing and evaluating the equitable issue of QPS. Equity is to ensure fairness of treatment between households. QPS is an important policy to rationalize housing priority to the Non-elderly One-person Applicants under scarce public housing resources. This study approaches the equity issue from both a theoretical analysis and a qualitative measurement by questionnaire survey. Based on various literature reviews, the concept of justice, equity, equality and housing needs are elaborated in theoretical analysis. Also, the experience of public housing application in some developed countries is described. The Points System of developed countries and Fordham's suitability test are taken into account on setting of questionnaire. Most of the findings under theoretical analysis are agreed with the findings from the questionnaire survey. This study focuses on analysis in equity issue of QPS and to suggest recommendations to improve the equity among applicants. DOI: 10.5353/th_b5334766 Subjects: Public housing - Government policy - China - Hong Kong

Author: James Lee
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429803427
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
First published in 1999, this volume examines the issue that, in the last two decades, the housing system in Hong Kong has witnessed a slow but consistent transition from a tenure dominated by public rental housing to one dominated by private home ownership. This book seeks to explain the unique social organization of home ownership in contemporary Hong Kong. Specifically, the book deals with the genesis of home ownership from three areas: housing histories, family culture and capital gains from home transactions. It is agreed that extreme deprivations in housing conditions in early lives, a strong family culture of mutual help as well as unprecedented capital gains, all contribute towards explaining the complex nature of home ownership growth. In conclusion the book suggests that with China regaining sovereignty after July 1997, the social organization of home ownership will be further complicated by more internal migrations from other parts of China, making housing problems even more acute.

Author: Yuen-Shan Dilys Tam
Publisher: Open Dissertation Press
ISBN: 9781361368398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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This dissertation, "Ageing in Place: a Case Study of Elderly Housing in Public Rental Housing Estate in Hong Kong: Kwai Shing West Estate" by Yuen-shan, Dilys, Tam, 譚婉珊, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Like most of the developed cities in the world, Hong Kong has to prepare for the challenges of ageing population after decades of sweet economic growth brought by the baby boom after World War II. According to the projection by the Census and Statistics Department carried out in 2011, the number of people aged 65 and above will rise significantly from 13% in 2011 to 30% in 2041. While almost 40% of the elderly are living in public housing; and numerous researches suggest "Ageing in place" is the unarguable preference of the elderly for them to live with dignity and autonomy in their familiar community, this study is therefore focusing on two questions: First, whether the prevailing housing provisions and policies could facilitate ageing in place for the elderly in the public rental housing estates. Second, what is the way forward for successful and sustainable ageing in place in public rental housing in the coming era of ageing. Three key elements for ageing in place are identified including adequate provision of affordable housing; suitable "environment" meeting the elderly's needs in physical and social aspects; and a living arrangement assisting formal care by professionals and informal cares by families. Empirical findings concluded that the accessibility of public rental housing for the elderly in the past decade was adequate. However, analysis on the trends of demand and supply for waiting list applicants revealed the potential shortage in future by reference to the lengthening waiting time despite the priority schemes for the elderly all along. The main reasons are the strong resistance to new estate development; and ageing of existing stock. A thorough research in the current housing policies revealed that the Hong Kong Housing Authority has implemented vigorous maintenance and improvements works; and numerous management policies in facilitating the aged people living in public rental housing estates. Their effectiveness was assessed through a case study on a representative old public rental housing estate viz. Kwai Shing West Estate comprising a questionnaire survey with a sample of 49 elderly respondents; field study on the estate facilities and services; and interviews with five knowledgeable stakeholders of government official, resident representative, elderly services providers and District Councillor sharing insights from different perspectives. Case study findings supported that the elderly were satisfied with their living conditions and community in public rental housing estate. However, they generally looked for better transport; more recreational facilities and open spaces; as well as social gathering opportunities to enhance their social lives. On the dark side, the social and community support services were inadequate as limited by the historical establishment and imbalanced allocation amongst estates. The current policies have also failed to identify and assist those "Hidden" elderly. Furthermore, the elderly were not much aware of the social services and housing policies fostering harmonious families. At last, the deteriorating trend of co-residence of the young and elder generations has been weakening the family support and increasing demand on social services of daily living assistance. Based on the empirical findings in my study, several recommendations on the way forward in enhancing ageing in place in

Author: Rebecca L. H. Chiu
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 0429796161
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 427

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Book Description
Recent rapid housing market expansion in China is presenting new challenges for policy makers, planners, business people, and citizens. Now that housing in middle-income China is driven by consumer choices and is no longer dominated by state policy decisions, housing policy issues in Chinese cities are becoming increasingly similar to those encountered in other global housing markets. With soaring prices and imbalances in housing supply favoring high income groups and housing demand driven by rising inequality in household incomes, many middle and lower-income households face worsening choices in terms of the quality and location of their housing as well as greater financial difficulties, which together can have negative implications for standards of public health. This book examines the impact of these changes on the general population, as well as on aspiring homeowners and developers. The contributors look at the effect on the widening of wealth gaps, slower economic growth, and threats to political and social stability. Though focusing on China, the editors also present discussions of specific policy design challenges encountered in Australia, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK, and the US. This book would be of interest to housing policy makers, as well as academics who are studying the social and political effects of the Chinese housing market.