Hong Kong’s public-housing composite waiting time is targeted to fall to 4.5 years in 2026/27, with Housing Secretary Winnie Ho saying it could hover slightly above or below that level during the current government’s term.
The queue previously peaked at 154,000 applications, when the average waiting time reached 6.1 years, according to figures reported by HK01. The new targets refer to a composite waiting time, rather than a fixed waiting period for every applicant.
Ho forecast that the waiting time could fall to four years or less in 2030/31.
Ho said progress would not necessarily be steady because annual completion rates, the size of development sites and the number of recovered units can vary from year to year.
The government is also relying on movement up the housing ladder to release more rental homes. Ho said increasing the supply of subsidised-sale housing would allow more public-housing tenants to buy homes through schemes such as the Home Ownership Scheme or Green Form housing, freeing the flats they leave for people still waiting.
She identified the Northern Metropolis as a major source of future capacity, saying its large, relatively flat sites could allow each residential estate to provide 5,000 to 6,000 units.