The government will supply 77,000 new public housing flats over the next five years, according to a government paper recently presented to the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The paper on land supply for public housing development was presented to the LegCo Panel on Housing and was supposed to be discussed in yesterday's meeting.

But the meeting was canceled because there were not enough legislators present to make a quorum.

The paper, provided by the Transport and Housing Bureau, estimated that 76,799 new public housing flats are needed from 2008 to 2013.

In other words, an average annual supply of 15,000 is required.

According to the paper, 70 percent of the new flats will be in urban areas.

Eighteen percent will be in extended urban areas including Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing, Sha Tin, Tseung Kwan O and Tung Chung.

The rest of the new flats will be in the New Territories.

According to the paper, since most of the flats are still being constructed or designed, there will not be a big variation in flat production over the coming five years.

The government aims to provide public housing to low-income families within three years of application.

The Housing Authority estimated that at this level of supply, together with the estimated 16,000 returned flats every year, the government will be able to meet such goal.

Patrick Chow, head of Research of Ricacorp Properties Limited, told China Daily that 70,000 new flats should be enough for the whole property market.

"The new flats will not affect the equilibrium of the property market," he said.

He estimated that about 50,000 of the 70,000 flats will be for former residents of demolished public estates.

The rest will be for "newcomers" such as immigrants from the mainland and low-income families.

He also believed that the new supply will not affect the three-year waiting time for public housing.

The supply of public housing will be stable as long as there is not a drastic increase or drop in Hong Kong's population, he added.

As of March this year, there were over 110,000 public housing applicants waiting.

Housing Authority official Wong Kwun, however, was not so sure about the public housing plan.

Wong questioned whether the new flats can meet demand in the market in the long run depends on various factors, for example, changes in income restrictions for applicants and the overall economy.

He also expressed concern that in five years when these public housing units are rented out, there may not be enough land to meet demand for public housing any more.

"I suggest that the government increase public land supply and maybe start building the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats again," he said.

HOS flats are subsidized public housing. The scheme was designed to assist residents who were ineligible for public housing and yet could not afford private housing to buy their own home.

The construction and sale of HOS flats were ceased in 2003.

(HK Edition 06/03/2008 page1)