Hong Kong Housing Bureau researches new rent-to-buy scheme

Hong Kong Housing Bureau Secretary Ho Wing-yin announced that the government is conducting research into the rent-to-buy scheme to potentially relaunch or expand it. The study, which involves professional consultants designing broad surveys, aims to gather opinions from public housing tenants and various other social strata to address previous disagreements regarding the program.

Currently, over 28,000 units remain unsold across 39 rent-to-buy estates. The bureau is investigating why these units are often the last to be selected when recycled into the Home Ownership Scheme or Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme. Ho indicated that the government may introduce a ‘Rent-to-Buy 2.0’ or an entirely new alternative solution based on the research findings.

Regarding the home ownership ladder, Ho emphasized the need to balance the variety of housing types to avoid excessive overlap. She noted that with an expected annual supply of approximately 12,000 subsidized sale units and measures such as extra lottery numbers for youths under 40, the landscape for middle-class and young residents is changing compared to previous years of limited options.