The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (February 14) approved the income and asset limits for White Form (WF) applicants, as well as the average selling prices and sales arrangements for the flats to be sold under the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2017.
 
     Applications will be invited at the end of March and balloting is expected to be held in June. Selection of flats by successful applicants is scheduled to start from August.
 
     For the Sale of HOS Flats 2017, the income limit for family applicants will be $52,000 per month (for a household size of two to nine persons) and $52,440 per month (for a household size of 10 persons and above). The asset limit for all family applicants will be $1.7 million. The income and asset limits for one-person applicants will be set at half of the limits for family applicants and will therefore be $26,000 and $850,000 respectively (see Table 1).
 
     "Following the established methodology, the income and asset limits are set after taking into account the latest property market and economic conditions," a spokesman for the HA said.
 
     A total of 2 057 new flats from three HOS developments expected to be completed in 2018-19 will be put up for sale. They comprise 1 358 flats at Choi Hing Court in Kwun Tong, with saleable area of 34.2 square metres to 43.5 sq m, and 170 flats at Ngan Wai Court and 529 flats at Ngan Ho Court, both in Mui Wo, Lantau Island, respectively with saleable area of 34.8 sq m to 51.3 sq m and 35.3 sq m to 50.4 sq m.
 
     Rescinded flats from five HOS developments previously put up for sale in the Sale of HOS Flats 2014 will also be offered for sale this time.
 
     Apart from the 35 rescinded flats already in hand, all other rescinded flats from the five developments accumulated up to June this year will also be included for sale in the exercise. The five developments are Mei Ying Court and Mei Pak Court in Sha Tin, Sheung Chui Court in Tsuen Wan, Ching Chun Court in Tsing Yi and Wang Fu Court in Yuen Long.
 
     As endorsed at the meeting, the prices of the flats of the three new developments, by applying a discount of 30 per cent from the assessed market values, range from the lowest at about $1,390,000 to the highest at about $3,850,000. For the rescinded flats of the five developments, the prices of the 35 flats already available range from about $2,450,000 to about $3,300,000 (see Table 2).
 
     "In assessing the market values, we have considered sale transactions of residential properties in the open market for both private and HOS developments in the vicinity of the respective developments up to December last year. Due regard has also been made to the differences in age, location, environment, design, facilities and other factors between the comparables and the subject developments," the spokesman said.
 
     The SHC also decided to continue setting the quota between Green Form (GF) and WF applicants at 50:50 following the setting for the Sale of HOS Flats 2016. The flexibility to allocate any remaining GF quota to WF applicants and vice versa will also be maintained.
 
     "Overwhelming responses from WF applicants in the HOS sale exercises in 2014 and 2016 as well as the two rounds of the Interim Scheme to Extend the HOS Secondary Market to WF Buyers demonstrated a strong home ownership aspiration of WF applicants," the spokesman said. "On the other hand, offering an opportunity to public rental housing (PRH) tenants to buy HOS flats will help recover their PRH flats for allocation to those on the waiting list for PRH."
 
     It was also decided that the established order of priority for flat selection would be followed with quotas set for certain categories of applicants.
 
     A quota of 600 flats will be set for the Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members (Priority Elderly Scheme) applicants with GF and WF applicants each taking up 50 per cent of it and any unused GF quota will be allocated to WF applicants and vice versa.
 
     "Taking into account the high purchase rate of flats of larger size by Priority Elderly Scheme applicants in the Sale of HOS Flats 2016 and Sale of Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme Flats - King Tai Court, and in order to offer ordinary family applicants a chance to purchase larger flats, a quota of 600 flats is set this time," the spokesman said.
 
     As in previous sale exercises, 100 flats will be set aside for one-person applicants, with GF and WF applicants taking up 50 per cent, to address the strong demand from this category. Any unused GF quota will be allocated to WF applicants and vice versa.
 
     One-person applicants will be selecting their flats, irrespective of size, after family applicants. In case the 100 flats are not fully consumed after exhausting all one-person applicants, the remaining flats will be allocated to ordinary family applicants under the GF and WF queues.
 
     Before the launch of sale, hard copies of the sales booklets, application forms and application guides will be available for public collection at the HA Customer Service Centre (HACSC) at Lok Fu. These documents can also be obtained during office hours in the estate offices and District Tenancy Management Offices of the HA, rental estate offices of the Hong Kong Housing Society, Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department and the Sham Shui Po Housing Information Centre.
 
     In addition, soft copies of the sales booklets will be uploaded to the designated websites while soft copies of the application form and the application guide will be available for viewing and downloading from the HA/Housing Department (HD) website. The approved Deed of Mutual Covenant of the HOS developments and aerial photographs will be displayed at the HACSC and available for viewing at the designated websites. Other information including approved building plans, Outline Zoning Plans and land grants of all eight developments will be displayed at the HACSC for inspection by the public.
 
     Before the commencement of the flat selection period, hard copies of sales brochures covering full details of the developments and the price lists will be available for public collection at the HACSC. A few copies of these documents will also be available at the HA's estates offices for viewing by PRH tenants. Soft copies of these documents will also be uploaded to the designated websites.
 
     For the three new HOS developments, virtual show flat walkthrough videos will be provided for viewing by the public at the HACSC and at the HA/HD website. In addition, building models and doll houses will be displayed at the HACSC for inspection by the public. 
 
     "As for the rescinded flats, considering the small number of flats which are scattered in five developments, it will not be cost-effective to reproduce building models, doll houses or virtual show flats. Instead, we will provide videos showing the interior of the typical flat types of the rescinded flats and upload them to the HA/HD's website for the information of prospective buyers and the public. Details of the rescinded flats will also be provided in the sales booklets and the sales brochures," the spokesman said.
 
     "Prospective buyers would have access to all necessary details before they decide whether or not to buy the flats," he added.
 

Ends/Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Issued at HKT 19:24

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