Income and asset limits for public rental housing for 2017-18
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The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA)'s Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) today (March 17) discussed the outcome of the review of income and asset limits for public rental housing (PRH) for 2017-18, and endorsed the income and asset limits for different household sizes with effect from April 1 (see table).
"The PRH income and asset limits are reviewed annually in accordance with the established mechanism to keep them in line with prevailing socio-economic circumstances. Overall, the PRH income and asset limits for 2017-18 will increase by an average of 3.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively over those for 2016-17. If calculated based on the established methodology, the 2017-18 PRH income limit for three-person households should have been $21,340, which is lower than the current level of $22,390. The relevant income limit should therefore be adjusted downwards. Nevertheless, with reference to past experience in reviewing PRH income limits and taking into account the overall situation, SHC agreed to freeze the income limit for three-person households at the existing level," a spokesman for the HA said.
Under the established mechanism, the PRH income limits are derived using a household expenditure approach, which consists of housing costs and non-housing costs, plus a contingency provision. Housing costs measure the costs of renting private accommodation comparable to PRH, and these depend on the differential unit rents of private accommodation and reference flat sizes (i.e. average space allocated to PRH applicants in the past three years). Non-housing costs are determined with reference to the latest Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), with adjustments made according to the latest movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)(A) (excluding housing costs), or the change in the nominal wage index obtained through the Labour Earnings Survey conducted by C&SD, whichever is higher. As regards the PRH asset limits, they are adjusted with reference to movements in CPI(A) over the year.
Ends/Friday, March 17, 2017
Issued at HKT 17:18
Issued at HKT 17:18
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