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The following is issued on behalf of the Housing Authority:
The Housing Authority's (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (January 24) endorsed the sale of surplus Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats, currently standing at 16,641, in two phases per year and about 2,000 to 3,000 flats per phase from 2007 onwards.
These flats comprise 5,509 returned flats in HOS/Private Sector Participation Scheme developments (up to end 2005); 6,082 unsold flats in partially sold HOS courts; 3,040 flats in three unsold HOS developments (Yau Mei Court Phase 3, Tung Tao Court and King Hin Court); and 2,010 flats in Kingsford Terrace.
䩕The surplus flats will be offered for sale to both public rental housing tenants (Green Form applicants) and eligible households living in private housing (White Form applicants) with a split ratio of 4:1,蒅 the Chairman of SHC, Mr Ng Shui-lai said, adding that a more flexible split will be allowed during the sale exercise, having regard to the take-up situation.
䩕Eligible one-person households will be placed after family households in the flat selection process and priority in the GF queue will only be given to those affected by HA-initiated clearance programme,蒅 he said.
In setting the price for the sale, Mr Ng said that the affordability of target group, i.e. a mortgage-to-income ratio of not more than 40 per cent and 50 per cent of the flats being affordable to the target group, remained the primary consideration, and the general guideline of offering a 30 per cent discount on market value would be followed.
Unlike previous arrangements, the HA would decline all buyback offers and no mortgage subsidy would be provided to purchasers.
However, the provision of mortgage guarantee in respect of loans granted by banks and other authorised financial institutions for the purchase of HOS will be continued.
䩕By declining all buyback offers, there is no need for HA to dispose of returned flats again, hence putting an end to the legacy issue after completing the sale of these flats,蒅 he explained, adding that this will also obviate the need for HA to shoulder the financial burden in buying back and holding the flats.
Stressing that promoting home ownership was no longer one of HA﷿s objectives, Mr Ng said it was more appropriate to direct resources to the provision of affordable rental housing to families in need instead of offering mortgage subsidy to encourage certain groups of people to buy HOS flats.
Mr Ng urged potential purchasers to consider their financial capability carefully before making the decision to buy HOS flats.
䩕Although ongoing condition surveys revealed that most of the flats were in reasonably good and acceptable condition, a defect rectification and maintenance programme will be carried out at the flats to bring them to a reasonable standard before sale.
䩕Similar to previous practise, a one-year defects liability period from the date of assignment of individual flats will be offered for unsold flats but excluding returned flats,蒅 Mr Ng said.
䩕This is because the flats are sold on an 'as is' basis and purchasers are allowed to view returned flats during the flat selection process,蒅 he said.
Structural Safety Guarantee (SSG) of 10 years (20 years for Tin Shui Wai projects) from the date of building completion will be maintained.
䩕To demonstrate our confidence in the structural safety of our buildings and offer more psychological comfort to purchasers, the SSG for the 28 unsold blocks will be counted from the commencement date of flat selection period of the first sale phase for each unsold block,蒅Mr Ng said.
䩕The endorsed sale programme and arrangements are in line with the guiding principles of launching all the surplus flats for sale as soon as possible from 2007 and resolving the legacy issue once and for all, safeguarding the interests of HA, and minimising the impact on the private residential property market as far as practicable. The policy of indefinitely ceasing production and sale of HOS flats remains unchanged,蒅 he said.
Ends/Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:16
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