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HONG KONG, July 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) welcomes the following two new housing initiatives announced by new Chief Executive on 16th July 2012, which initiatives are favorable response to Hong Kong residents' demand for more affordable housing.
3,000 "Youth Hostel" flats for short term leasing to young individuals or couples
The new CE announced that his administration will fully subsidize NGOs to build initially 3,000 "youth hostel" flats for short term leasing to young individuals or couples at below market rentals. RICS welcomes this idea as these "youth hostel" flats will greatly alleviate the current acute shortage of affordable rental units.
As the few identified sites suitable for the "youth hostel" flats are already owned by the NGOs, the actual development time required to complete these flats for leasing could be much shorter than the normal time required by the Government to identify suitable sites from its land bank, and then complete the hostel development. RICS suggests government simplify the relevant approval procedures e.g. of land lease modification and buildings plans vetting etc, by setting up a special task force office to co-ordinate cross departmental efforts to speed up the development time of the "youth hostel" projects.
5,000 "white-form applicants" to purchase HOS flats each year without land premium
According to CE's announcement, the Government would allow 5,000 eligible "white-form applicants" to purchase HOS flats in the secondary market each year, without paying the land premium. RICS supports this idea but recommends that the government should regularly review the family income and asset limits of these eligible white-form applicants as well as the annual quota of 5,000 applicants.
Secondly, in order to avoid the sharp increase of prices of HOS flats in the secondary market, RICS suggests the government release the annual quota of 5,000 applicants in two stages every year. The first batch of 2,500 successful applicants need to buy the HOS flats in the secondary market within 6 months' validity period, followed by the second batch of 2,500 in another 6 months, with their respective rights to buy lapsed after the 6-month validity periods.
In order to deter speculation, RICS suggests a lock-in period, such as 2 years from date of purchase in the secondary market before successful white-form applicants can resell their HOS flats. Also, as HOS is one of the welfare measures Hong Kong citizens entitled to, RICS recommends an addition of clause that the flats are "only to be sold to Hong Kong citizens" in future land lease conditions governing new HOS sites.
David Tse, the Chair of Housing Task Force of RICS (Hong Kong) said, "RICS welcomes these two housing initiatives as they could certainly help to alleviate the acute shortage of affordable housing in HK in the shorter terms but the Government must not overlook the importance of setting up of a long term land and housing supply and development strategy, in particular the increase of public rental housing (PRH) production to meet the ever increasing demand from HK people, as evidenced by the long waiting list of PRH applicants."
About RICS & RICS Asia
RICS is the world's leading qualification when it comes to professional standards in land, property and construction. In a world where more and more people, governments, banks and commercial organisations demand greater certainty of professional standards and ethics, attaining RICS status is the recognised mark of property professionalism.
Over 100,000 property professionals working in the major established and emerging economies of the world have already recognised the importance of securing RICS status by becoming members.
RICS is an independent professional body that since 1868, has been committed to setting and upholding the highest standards of excellence and integrity -- providing impartial, authoritative advice on key issues affecting businesses and society. RICS is a regulator of both its individual members and firms enabling it to maintain the highest standards and providing the basis for unparalleled client confidence in the sector.
The RICS Asia supports a network of over 11,000 individual professionals across the Asia region with an objective to help develop the property and construction markets in these countries, by introducing professional standards, best practice and international experience. It promotes RICS and its members as the natural advisors on all property matters. It also ensures that services and career development opportunities are provided to members.
The RICS North Asia region covers national associations and local groups located in The People's Republic of China and the SAR Hong Kong. It also has members working across the region such as Japan, Macao, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia, Nepal. The RICS ASEAN region covers national associations and local groups located in Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand with members working across the region in Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kiribati, Laos PDR, The Maldives, The Philippines, Timor East and Vietnam.
For more information, please visit: www.ricsasia.org.
Media enquiry, please contact:
RICS Asia Public Relations Representative
Mr Andy Hung / Ms Polly Tsang
T: +852-2372-0090
F: +852-2372-0490
M: +852-9254-9250 / +852-6108-5435
E: andy@creativegp.com / polly@creativegp.com
