Proposed vacancy tax completes the HK govt’s housing initiative

The Hong Kong government's proposed property vacancy tax will be tabled at the Legislative Council when it reopens.

The new tax will be the last of the six measures to be implemented in the government's initiatives to tackle the housing shortage problem in the city.

The tax bill, to be gazetted on Friday, indicates that the entire package of six new housing measures will be put in place, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor wrote in her official social media account on Thursday.

As part and parcel of the six new measures introduced in June 2018, the vacancy tax on empty new residential units is designed to discourage developers from manipulating home prices by hoarding.

In the government's proposal, first-hand private residential units that have not been occupied or rented out for more than six months will be considered as vacant and subject to tax at twice the normal rate determined by the Rating and Valuation Department.

The other five measures include decoupling the price of subsidized flats from market prices, and reallocating nine land sites from private development to the building of public housing.

Lam stressed the housing problem is the most challenging, formidable and complex among all livelihood issues. More new measures, aiming to increase the housing supply, will be in the pipeline, she added.