According to the provisional results of a survey released today (June 12) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the index of industrial production for manufacturing industries as a whole increased by 0.7% in the first … read more
The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 82 is published by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (June 12). This publication contains key findings on information technology usage and pen… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) Subsidised Housing Committee today (June 12) approved the average selling prices and sales arrangements for the sale of Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) Flats 2024 (GSH 2024).
“The HA is going to launch GSH 2024 in the third quarter of 2025 offering a total of 2 576 flats from the new GSH development, Wang Chi Court in Kowloon Bay (See Annex 1). With an aim to increase applicants’ chances of success, GSH 2024 will implement the enhancement measure of allocating an extra ballot number to applicants who had failed to purchase a flat in GSH 2022 and GSH 2023,” a spokesman for the HA said.
“Affected tenants of the HA’s announced Public Rental Housing (PRH) clearance projects (i.e. Pik Hoi House, Kam Pik House and Tan Fung House of Choi Hung Estate; and Wah On House and Wah Lok House of Wah Fu Estate) who would like to purchase subsidised sale flats (SSF) in lieu of PRH will be accorded priority in flat selection over other applicants under GSH 2024. On the other hand, a quota of 1 050 GSH flats will be set for families applying under the Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members and Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme (Priority Newborns Scheme) for GSH 2024. Family applicants with babies born on or after October 25, 2023, will be eligible for the Priority Newborns Scheme if their children are aged 3 or below on the closing day of the application of GSH 2024. Separately, a quota of 250 GSH flats will be set for one-person applicants,” the spokesman said (see Annex 2).
Details of the implementation arrangements for GSH 2024 are as follows:
Flats for sale
The HA will offer under GSH 2024 a total of 2 576 new GSH flats from Wang Chi Court, rescinded or unsold flats which were first put up for sale under GSH 2020/21 and GSH 2022, and a new batch of recovered Tenants Purchase Scheme flats.
The new GSH development Wang Chi Court provides flats with saleable areas ranging from about 17.9 square metres to about 43.3 sq m (about 193 square feet to about 466 sq ft). Large flats, with saleable areas ranging from about 41.8 sq m to about 43.3 sq m (about 450 sq ft to about 466 sq ft), which are more popular among applicants, will account for more than a quarter of the total number of flats (See Annex 1).
Pricing
Under the prevailing pricing mechanism, GSH flats will be sold at a discount of 10 per cent more than that of the preceding Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) sale exercise. Since the discount rate for Sale of HOS 2024 Flats was set at 30 per cent, the average selling prices of all GSH flats for sale under GSH 2024 would be set at a 40 per cent discount from the assessed market values (i.e. for sale at 60 per cent of the assessed market values). The selling prices of the flats in Wang Chi Court range from about $1.15 million to about $3.49 million, with an average selling price of about $2.47 million (See Annex 1).
“Based on the average flat selling price at about $2.47 million (saleable area of about 34 sq m or about 366 sq ft), the mortgage payment is about $10,500 per month, assuming that he/she takes out a mortgage at 95 per cent of the flat price for a term of 30 years at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent. For one to two-person flats, the average selling price is about $1.28 million and the mortgage payment is about $5,500 per month,” the spokesman said.
Restrictions on ownership of domestic property
Both White Form and Green Form applicants of SSF are subject to restrictions on ownership of domestic property in Hong Kong during the period from 24 months preceding the closing date for submitting the application and up to the time of signing the Agreement for Sale and Purchase for a flat under the current sale exercise. Applicants or any family members listed in the application who have entered into agreement(s) (including preliminary agreement) to purchase any domestic property in Hong Kong during the period from 24 months preceding the closing date for submitting the application, but the agreement(s) has/have subsequently been cancelled or rescinded, are still eligible to apply for SSF. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Subsidised Housing Committee of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (June 12) approved the estimated public rental housing (PRH) allocation for 2025-26 and noted the actual allocation in 2024-25.
“For the year 2024-25, the actual allocation was 29 114 flats (i.e. the number of flats taken up by applicants before the end of 2024-25),” a spokesman for the HA said.
“For 2025-26, we estimated that a total of about 29 700 PRH flats, comprising about 8 800 new flats and about 20 900 recovered flats, will be available for allocation to various categories of applicants. Most of the flats (i.e. 23 350 flats (78.6 per cent)) will be allocated to PRH applicants. The annual allocation quota for non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System (QPS) is set at 10 per cent of the total number of flats to be allocated to PRH applicants with an upper limit of 2 200 flats, and therefore the allocation quota for QPS applicants in 2025-26 is 2 200 flats,” the spokesman said.
As regards allocation for other categories of applicants, the HA will reserve 1 200 flats for rehousing residents affected by clearance projects planned by various departments and statutory bodies, and residents affected by other Government’s squatter clearances, emergency clearances, unauthorised rooftop structure clearances and so forth; among which 300 flats will be set aside for rehousing residents affected by the Urban Renewal Authority’s redevelopment projects scheduled for 2025-26.
To tie in with the clearance programme of Wah Fu (I) Estate and Choi Hung Estate announced in March and December 2024 respectively, the HA will reserve 100 flats under the category of the HA’s Estate Clearance and Major Repairs for early thinning out exercise.
In addition, 350 flats will be reserved for allocation under the category of Compassionate Rehousing (CR). This figure is not an upper limit and the HA will follow the established policy to handle all the demands for CR as recommended by the Social Welfare Department. Any unused quota under the category of CR will be allocated to PRH applicants.
Under the category of Transfers, 3 700 flats will be used for various transfer purposes in 2025-26, among which 1 100 flats will be used for the transfer of under-occupation households so that more large flats can be recovered for easing the pressing demand of applicants with four or more household members. Moreover, the HA will reserve a quota of around 1 000 for the Transfer Scheme for Improving the Living Environment in 2025-26. The remaining 1 600 flats will be flexibly deployed for other transfer purposes including Special Transfer, the Harmonious Families Transfer Scheme, transfers under the Full Rent Exemption Scheme for Elderly Households and Management Transfer.
For the category of Junior Civil Servants, the HA will reserve 1 000 flats under the Civil Service Public Housing Quota Scheme in 2025-26.
“The HA will make projections of the supply of PRH flats that can be allocated in the coming year and how such flats may be allocated to the various categories of demands. We will closely monitor any changes in the circumstances and will maintain flexibility in the allocation of PRH flats to optimise the use of resources,” the spokesman added.
Please refer to the attached table on the breakdown of estimated allocations for various categories in 2025-26. read more
Hong Kong Customs on May 24 seized about 3 300 suspected counterfeit watches with an estimated market value of about $3.3 million at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Port.
Through risk assessment, Customs on that day intercepted an incoming lorry at the HZMB Hong Kong Port. After inspection, Customs officers found the batch of suspected counterfeit watches inside the cargo compartment of the lorry. A 52-year-old male lorry driver was subsequently arrested.
An initial investigation revealed that the batch of suspected counterfeit watches would have been transhipped to overseas regions.
The investigation is ongoing, and the arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation.
Customs will continue to take stringent enforcement action against counterfeit goods and smuggling activities through risk assessment and intelligence analysis.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trademark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).
