Govt mulls regular sale of empty public flats
Authorities plan to start regular sales of recovered flats at public housing estates, RTHK has learnt, with the Housing Authority due to discuss the matter at a meeting on Friday. Under the Tenants Purchase Scheme, homes that become empty are offered for sale at a discount to people living in other public rental units.  At the moment, such flats are only sold from time to time at the government's discretion. But it's understood that in future, recovered units will be offered for sale on a regular basis as part of the Home Ownership Scheme and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme. Meanwhile, current tenants of the 39 estates included in the Tenants Purchase Scheme will continue to be allowed to buy the flats they are living in. The executive director of the Federation of Public Housing Estates, Chiu Kwok-wai, said he backs the plan. He added, however, that officials would need to be more proactive in managing the estates when they have both tenants and homeowners. "Mixed ownership can be contentious when it comes to estate management. Can the Housing Department take up a more active role in estate management, for example, in the owners' corporations?" he questioned.