Priority for new parents in choosing subsidised homes
Applications for more than 7,100 government-subsidised homes will open in the fourth quarter of this year, with households that have newborns being given priority when selecting homes for the first time.  The new units in the latest round of the Home Ownership Scheme are from five estates – in Kai Tak, Kwun Tong, Yau Tong, Tung Chung and Tuen Mun – and priced from HK$1.43 million to HK$4.67 million.  Successful applicants are expected to be able to select subsidised homes from the second quarter of 2025, which are marked with a 30 percent discount, smaller than the previous batch's offering.  Cleresa Wong, who chairs the Housing Authority's subsidised housing committee, said the monthly median income of target buyers has risen, meaning they are more capable of affording such homes.  She also brushed aside concerns that a downturn in the property market would affect the sale of these homes.  "We do not compare these prices with that in the private market because our target buyers are different. The buyers we want to help are those whom we have determined are unable to purchase a private market flat," she said.  "I'm not worried about how popular these homes will be. There are a lot of people who we have to help." The authority has also set aside 40 percent of the flats, or 2,900 of them, for ballots from households with elderly members or newborns, who will have priority when choosing their desired homes.  In a bid to boost the city's birth rate, families with children aged three years or younger at the time of application and those who are born on or after October 25 last year will have a better chance of buying subsidised flats. Wong said successful applicants with priority are no longer picking from the entire pool of available flats, and instead each housing project will have a set proportion of units for them to choose.  ”This time, we hope that applicants will have a more reasonable chance of selecting the unit they want," she said.  "We have noticed that in the past, people with priority tended to prefer homes with better locations and those that are larger."  Another 10 percent of homes are earmarked for single-person household applicants, Wong added. Separately, families of two or more who are "white form" applicants will be subject to a monthly income ceiling of HK$60,000, from the previous HK$62,000, and an asset limit of HK$1.23 million.  The amount will be halved for single-person households.