James Kin-ching Lee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083497
- eISBN:
- 9789882209107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083497.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Using comparisons with the experience in Singapore, this chapter reflects on the philosophical foundations of Hong Kong's land-supply and housing policies, arguing for a justification of government ...
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Using comparisons with the experience in Singapore, this chapter reflects on the philosophical foundations of Hong Kong's land-supply and housing policies, arguing for a justification of government intervention on the grounds both of efficiency, because of market failures, and of equity, because of the need to ensure access to housing and home finance, particularly for the lower-paid. In a review of recent volatility and policy errors, the chapter argues for policies that are less fixated on home ownership.Less
Using comparisons with the experience in Singapore, this chapter reflects on the philosophical foundations of Hong Kong's land-supply and housing policies, arguing for a justification of government intervention on the grounds both of efficiency, because of market failures, and of equity, because of the need to ensure access to housing and home finance, particularly for the lower-paid. In a review of recent volatility and policy errors, the chapter argues for policies that are less fixated on home ownership.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Land supply, property values, and housing provision are inextricably linked with the city’s economic growth and questions of economic ...
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Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Land supply, property values, and housing provision are inextricably linked with the city’s economic growth and questions of economic equality. In Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, Yue Chim Richard Wong traces the history of Hong Kong’s postwar housing policy. He then discusses current housing problems and their solutions, drawing on examples from around the world. Wong argues that housing policy in Hong Kong, with its multiple, often incompatible objectives, and its focus on supply over demand, can no longer satisfy the needs of a diverse and dynamic population. He recommends three simple low-cost policies to promote homeownership and social mobility: sell public rental housing units to the sitting tenants; make subsidized homes more affordable; and reform the public housing program along lines adopted in Singapore, where government-built housing may be resold or leased in a free market. This is the second of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. The first, Diversity and Occasional Anarchy, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013, examines the growing contradictions in Hong Kong’s economy predicament in historical context.Less
Hong Kong is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Land supply, property values, and housing provision are inextricably linked with the city’s economic growth and questions of economic equality. In Hong Kong Land for Hong Kong People, Yue Chim Richard Wong traces the history of Hong Kong’s postwar housing policy. He then discusses current housing problems and their solutions, drawing on examples from around the world. Wong argues that housing policy in Hong Kong, with its multiple, often incompatible objectives, and its focus on supply over demand, can no longer satisfy the needs of a diverse and dynamic population. He recommends three simple low-cost policies to promote homeownership and social mobility: sell public rental housing units to the sitting tenants; make subsidized homes more affordable; and reform the public housing program along lines adopted in Singapore, where government-built housing may be resold or leased in a free market. This is the second of Richard Wong’s collections of articles on society and economy in Hong Kong. The first, Diversity and Occasional Anarchy, published by Hong Kong University Press in 2013, examines the growing contradictions in Hong Kong’s economy predicament in historical context.
Gavin Ure
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789888083947
- eISBN:
- 9789882208667
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083947.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The implications of the failure of the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, in the role of bureaucratic entrepreneur are examined through his inability to effectively address the problems of low-cost ...
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The implications of the failure of the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, in the role of bureaucratic entrepreneur are examined through his inability to effectively address the problems of low-cost housing. How the resulting policy voids created by his inaction were filled from outside the bureaucracy are also explored.Less
The implications of the failure of the Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham, in the role of bureaucratic entrepreneur are examined through his inability to effectively address the problems of low-cost housing. How the resulting policy voids created by his inaction were filled from outside the bureaucracy are also explored.
Peter Somerville
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447324560
- eISBN:
- 9781447324584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447324560.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Educational Policy and Politics
This chapter examines the coalition government’s housing policy. It suggests that in most respects it was largely indistinguishable from Conservative Party policy. The chapter considers the aims of ...
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This chapter examines the coalition government’s housing policy. It suggests that in most respects it was largely indistinguishable from Conservative Party policy. The chapter considers the aims of the coalition’s housing policy, including to increase the number of homes, to help people to buy their homes, to transform social renting, improve energy efficiency and reduce the cost of housing benefit. It analyses initiatives such as the New Homes Bonus, Help to Buy and welfare reform, and assesses the extent to which they achieved their aims.
The chapter suggests that the housing policies of the coalition government (and its Conservative successor) failed to understand how the housing market works, and in particular how to resolve the difficulties faced by ordinary people in navigating that market.Less
This chapter examines the coalition government’s housing policy. It suggests that in most respects it was largely indistinguishable from Conservative Party policy. The chapter considers the aims of the coalition’s housing policy, including to increase the number of homes, to help people to buy their homes, to transform social renting, improve energy efficiency and reduce the cost of housing benefit. It analyses initiatives such as the New Homes Bonus, Help to Buy and welfare reform, and assesses the extent to which they achieved their aims.
The chapter suggests that the housing policies of the coalition government (and its Conservative successor) failed to understand how the housing market works, and in particular how to resolve the difficulties faced by ordinary people in navigating that market.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
The most important issue in designing public housing policy is to have a functioning market that allows households to choose housing tenure, between tenancy and homeownership. This is especially ...
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The most important issue in designing public housing policy is to have a functioning market that allows households to choose housing tenure, between tenancy and homeownership. This is especially important in developing economies with weak institutions that are experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization, because the choice of housing tenure matters on both economic and social grounds.Less
The most important issue in designing public housing policy is to have a functioning market that allows households to choose housing tenure, between tenancy and homeownership. This is especially important in developing economies with weak institutions that are experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization, because the choice of housing tenure matters on both economic and social grounds.
Viviana d’Auria
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719096525
- eISBN:
- 9781526104335
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719096525.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation ...
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With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation beyond political and economic narratives. The Volta River Project, a river basin development scheme conceived in late colonial Africa and vigorously re-cast as a postcolonial symbol, offers ideal terrain to expose conflicting ideas of decolonisation as they were enacted during and after Ghana’s lengthy ‘transitional’ phase. It presents the work of different architectural practices involved in the design of new industrial towns and resettlement villages, exposing their conflicting ideas about the temporalities and spatialities of decolonisation. Their overlap presents decolonisation’s increasingly transcultural and transnational nature, as it became more than a unilateral relationship between empire and colony. As former colonial influences began to fade away, architects re-imagined urban models, using the occasion to invest design with ideals of liberation, but also remained tied to evolutionary biases. Attempts at decolonising Ghana’s built and cultural environment also illustrate the tension between market-oriented self-help housing and the extension of government-led developmentalism, a tension which illustrates decolonisation’s major paradoxes, caught between nation-building and (critical) internationalism.Less
With a focus on ‘practised architecture’, this chapter contests the understanding of physical things as mere mirrors of social norms and economic interests, stretching the analysis of decolonisation beyond political and economic narratives. The Volta River Project, a river basin development scheme conceived in late colonial Africa and vigorously re-cast as a postcolonial symbol, offers ideal terrain to expose conflicting ideas of decolonisation as they were enacted during and after Ghana’s lengthy ‘transitional’ phase. It presents the work of different architectural practices involved in the design of new industrial towns and resettlement villages, exposing their conflicting ideas about the temporalities and spatialities of decolonisation. Their overlap presents decolonisation’s increasingly transcultural and transnational nature, as it became more than a unilateral relationship between empire and colony. As former colonial influences began to fade away, architects re-imagined urban models, using the occasion to invest design with ideals of liberation, but also remained tied to evolutionary biases. Attempts at decolonising Ghana’s built and cultural environment also illustrate the tension between market-oriented self-help housing and the extension of government-led developmentalism, a tension which illustrates decolonisation’s major paradoxes, caught between nation-building and (critical) internationalism.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888139446
- eISBN:
- 9789888180349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139446.003.0021
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter looks into why there is an enormous aspiration within the community for homeownership, and glances at the housing policies implemented by the government over the past few decades. It ...
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This chapter looks into why there is an enormous aspiration within the community for homeownership, and glances at the housing policies implemented by the government over the past few decades. It also examines why the majority of the younger generation has to rely on their parents’ financial support to purchase a flat. The government has to come up with a more wholesale change of policy with regard to homeownership, with a view to enlarging homeownership in the community so that even the have-nots can benefit. The author also suggests that the government should review its discounted premium collection policy on the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats in a bid to achieve a triple-win situation. Ill-defined property rights may give rise to mammoth negotiation costs and complicate the redevelopment of HOS flats, and some recommendations which require merely easy-to-adjust changes are put forward.Less
This chapter looks into why there is an enormous aspiration within the community for homeownership, and glances at the housing policies implemented by the government over the past few decades. It also examines why the majority of the younger generation has to rely on their parents’ financial support to purchase a flat. The government has to come up with a more wholesale change of policy with regard to homeownership, with a view to enlarging homeownership in the community so that even the have-nots can benefit. The author also suggests that the government should review its discounted premium collection policy on the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) flats in a bid to achieve a triple-win situation. Ill-defined property rights may give rise to mammoth negotiation costs and complicate the redevelopment of HOS flats, and some recommendations which require merely easy-to-adjust changes are put forward.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Every person who grew up in Hong Kong has been taught that, after a 1953 Boxing Day fire in Shek Kip Mei, which left 53,000 immigrants homeless, the government initiated a policy to develop ...
More
Every person who grew up in Hong Kong has been taught that, after a 1953 Boxing Day fire in Shek Kip Mei, which left 53,000 immigrants homeless, the government initiated a policy to develop Resettlement Estates to house these stranded people. The program continued until eventually more than 200,000 such units were built. It is easy to conclude that a Christmas fire triggered the greatest humanitarian policy initiative in postwar Hong Kong. This is, of course, part of the urban myth we all grew up with. At the very most, the Christmas fire was only one of many relevant reasons for this building program.Less
Every person who grew up in Hong Kong has been taught that, after a 1953 Boxing Day fire in Shek Kip Mei, which left 53,000 immigrants homeless, the government initiated a policy to develop Resettlement Estates to house these stranded people. The program continued until eventually more than 200,000 such units were built. It is easy to conclude that a Christmas fire triggered the greatest humanitarian policy initiative in postwar Hong Kong. This is, of course, part of the urban myth we all grew up with. At the very most, the Christmas fire was only one of many relevant reasons for this building program.
Price V. Fishback, Jonathan Rose, and Kenneth Snowden
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226082448
- eISBN:
- 9780226082585
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226082585.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book is an economic history of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC was government corporation created under the New Deal to refinance home mortgage loans in danger of foreclosure, ...
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This book is an economic history of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC was government corporation created under the New Deal to refinance home mortgage loans in danger of foreclosure, passed at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration in 1933 with overwhelming support from Congress and a broad set of interest groups. The challenge for HOLC officials was to design a program that could deliver relief to loan borrowers while still securing the voluntary participation of lenders and not imposing unjustifiably large costs on taxpayers. Ultimately, the HOLC was effective in purchasing a large number of loans because it often paid lenders all or nearly all of the debts they were owed. At the same time, the HOLC delivered relief to borrowers by implementing relatively liberal loan terms and patient servicing practices but typically only small or no debt relief. The relief provided by the HOLC was broadly effective at helping borrowers avoid foreclosure and by doing so the intervention helped prevent declines in house prices and home ownership in some local markets. However, the program did not reverse all of the damage from the foreclosure crisis of the 1930s, and the HOLC ultimately foreclosed on 19 percent of its own loans. Financially, the HOLC’s loan refinancing program was responsible for a modest loss to US taxpayers, equal to about 2 percent of the value of its loan portfolio, once all of its explicit and implicit costs are taken into account.Less
This book is an economic history of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC). The HOLC was government corporation created under the New Deal to refinance home mortgage loans in danger of foreclosure, passed at the beginning of the Roosevelt administration in 1933 with overwhelming support from Congress and a broad set of interest groups. The challenge for HOLC officials was to design a program that could deliver relief to loan borrowers while still securing the voluntary participation of lenders and not imposing unjustifiably large costs on taxpayers. Ultimately, the HOLC was effective in purchasing a large number of loans because it often paid lenders all or nearly all of the debts they were owed. At the same time, the HOLC delivered relief to borrowers by implementing relatively liberal loan terms and patient servicing practices but typically only small or no debt relief. The relief provided by the HOLC was broadly effective at helping borrowers avoid foreclosure and by doing so the intervention helped prevent declines in house prices and home ownership in some local markets. However, the program did not reverse all of the damage from the foreclosure crisis of the 1930s, and the HOLC ultimately foreclosed on 19 percent of its own loans. Financially, the HOLC’s loan refinancing program was responsible for a modest loss to US taxpayers, equal to about 2 percent of the value of its loan portfolio, once all of its explicit and implicit costs are taken into account.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0021
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Most people in Hong Kong believe that the city is once again in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Housing prices are of course determined by both demand and supply. High housing prices may ...
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Most people in Hong Kong believe that the city is once again in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Housing prices are of course determined by both demand and supply. High housing prices may reflect high consumer demand for housing. However, they may also reflect restrictions on the supply side. Housing prices fluctuate with market conditions and the business cycle. This cyclical dimension may be a policy concern, because high housing prices affect low-income households and those without property assets for a time, but these effects are eventually self-correcting. But there is also a separate belief that, in Hong Kong, housing prices are high because the government has a “high land-price policy.” This is a very popular view with the public and even among experts with knowledge of economics and markets. Interestingly, this view cannot be easily proved or disproved.Less
Most people in Hong Kong believe that the city is once again in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Housing prices are of course determined by both demand and supply. High housing prices may reflect high consumer demand for housing. However, they may also reflect restrictions on the supply side. Housing prices fluctuate with market conditions and the business cycle. This cyclical dimension may be a policy concern, because high housing prices affect low-income households and those without property assets for a time, but these effects are eventually self-correcting. But there is also a separate belief that, in Hong Kong, housing prices are high because the government has a “high land-price policy.” This is a very popular view with the public and even among experts with knowledge of economics and markets. Interestingly, this view cannot be easily proved or disproved.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Chapter 1 highlights the main argument of the book: solutions to control the inflow people will eventually corrode the foundations of our free economy and open society. They will also be futile, ...
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Chapter 1 highlights the main argument of the book: solutions to control the inflow people will eventually corrode the foundations of our free economy and open society. They will also be futile, inhumane, and self-defeating. Hong Kong should be developed as a metropolis with a population that is much larger than is currently contemplated in official forecasts. And public housing units should be privatized to help residents become a propertied class. In doing so, Hong Kong will soon be gladly welcoming all those who have a legitimate and humanitarian claim to be here.Less
Chapter 1 highlights the main argument of the book: solutions to control the inflow people will eventually corrode the foundations of our free economy and open society. They will also be futile, inhumane, and self-defeating. Hong Kong should be developed as a metropolis with a population that is much larger than is currently contemplated in official forecasts. And public housing units should be privatized to help residents become a propertied class. In doing so, Hong Kong will soon be gladly welcoming all those who have a legitimate and humanitarian claim to be here.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Chapter 2 considers how Hong Kong got to where it is today. The history of Hong Kong’s housing strategy in the postwar era—and the one we still pursue—is best described as a massive attempt by ...
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Chapter 2 considers how Hong Kong got to where it is today. The history of Hong Kong’s housing strategy in the postwar era—and the one we still pursue—is best described as a massive attempt by government to provide rental shelter and homeownership for the population. Most people in Hong Kong are so accustomed to this provision that they hardly stop to think about what the government’s role in housing should be. The author believes that Hong Kong’s long-term housing goal should be to provide a mixture of public and private units so that at least 80% of permanent residents can become bona fide homeowners.Less
Chapter 2 considers how Hong Kong got to where it is today. The history of Hong Kong’s housing strategy in the postwar era—and the one we still pursue—is best described as a massive attempt by government to provide rental shelter and homeownership for the population. Most people in Hong Kong are so accustomed to this provision that they hardly stop to think about what the government’s role in housing should be. The author believes that Hong Kong’s long-term housing goal should be to provide a mixture of public and private units so that at least 80% of permanent residents can become bona fide homeowners.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0025
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Reforming public sector housing will go a long way towards reviving the natural ebb and flow of life of half the city’s population. It will make inhabitants freer and less frustrated, encourage ...
More
Reforming public sector housing will go a long way towards reviving the natural ebb and flow of life of half the city’s population. It will make inhabitants freer and less frustrated, encourage people to move around, and reactivate their natural economic instincts to build and create. It will end the labeling effect of living in the public housing sector. At the very least, the place they now live in will become a community that they will call their home and start investing in rather than treat as a public asset they do not own. A population policy that seeks to attract more talent to Hong Kong can only be beneficial for all if economic growth results from dynamic externalities produced by human capital. To date, there has been more talk than substance. With an aging population knocking on the door, we clearly should be planning for a much larger and better population mix and seek to attract migrants and contracted non-local workers based on their capacity to produce and innovate, rather than merely the assets or spending power they command.Less
Reforming public sector housing will go a long way towards reviving the natural ebb and flow of life of half the city’s population. It will make inhabitants freer and less frustrated, encourage people to move around, and reactivate their natural economic instincts to build and create. It will end the labeling effect of living in the public housing sector. At the very least, the place they now live in will become a community that they will call their home and start investing in rather than treat as a public asset they do not own. A population policy that seeks to attract more talent to Hong Kong can only be beneficial for all if economic growth results from dynamic externalities produced by human capital. To date, there has been more talk than substance. With an aging population knocking on the door, we clearly should be planning for a much larger and better population mix and seek to attract migrants and contracted non-local workers based on their capacity to produce and innovate, rather than merely the assets or spending power they command.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0015
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, people want to become homeowners because they think property prices will rise in the long run and provide a cushion for their future. However, these aspirations have ...
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In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, people want to become homeowners because they think property prices will rise in the long run and provide a cushion for their future. However, these aspirations have become unaffordable by a large margin for a large segment of the city’s population. Macroeconomic factors have provided the backdrop to these circumstances. In an international, open, urban city economy like Hong Kong’s, the value of land and property is not tied to supply and demand factors in the local economy alone but also to global financial and economic conditions. Under the linked exchange rate regime, the business cycle in Hong Kong is affected by interest rates and price movements in the US, over which it has neither control nor influence.Less
In Hong Kong, as elsewhere, people want to become homeowners because they think property prices will rise in the long run and provide a cushion for their future. However, these aspirations have become unaffordable by a large margin for a large segment of the city’s population. Macroeconomic factors have provided the backdrop to these circumstances. In an international, open, urban city economy like Hong Kong’s, the value of land and property is not tied to supply and demand factors in the local economy alone but also to global financial and economic conditions. Under the linked exchange rate regime, the business cycle in Hong Kong is affected by interest rates and price movements in the US, over which it has neither control nor influence.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Public pressure on government to reintroduce the HOS reappeared after 2010. When the US Federal Reserve announced a policy of quantitative easing to jumpstart the US economy. American funds flowed ...
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Public pressure on government to reintroduce the HOS reappeared after 2010. When the US Federal Reserve announced a policy of quantitative easing to jumpstart the US economy. American funds flowed into the emerging economies in the world, and in Hong Kong rising home prices in the private market reignited concern among middle-income households that their aspirations for homeownership were being frustrated. It is obvious there is an enormous desire within this community for people to own their own homes. The past 30 years have convinced the people of Hong Kong that property prices are highly volatile but will rise, and those caught without a flat to call their own will have much to regret later in life.Less
Public pressure on government to reintroduce the HOS reappeared after 2010. When the US Federal Reserve announced a policy of quantitative easing to jumpstart the US economy. American funds flowed into the emerging economies in the world, and in Hong Kong rising home prices in the private market reignited concern among middle-income households that their aspirations for homeownership were being frustrated. It is obvious there is an enormous desire within this community for people to own their own homes. The past 30 years have convinced the people of Hong Kong that property prices are highly volatile but will rise, and those caught without a flat to call their own will have much to regret later in life.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
A crucial question in the discussion on housing is whether most households in the public housing sector are on the whole poorer than those in the private sector. Or, does the distribution of ...
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A crucial question in the discussion on housing is whether most households in the public housing sector are on the whole poorer than those in the private sector. Or, does the distribution of household income among public housing occupants and private housing occupants overlap significantly or minimally? A well-known result from the economics of housing demand is that households with higher incomes prefer or demand bigger homes, and the size of accommodation is expected to be positively related with income. Given the large difference in the median size of the housing units between the private and public housing sectors (about 40%), an efficient or optimal housing arrangement would require that there be very different income levels between the occupants of these two sectors.Less
A crucial question in the discussion on housing is whether most households in the public housing sector are on the whole poorer than those in the private sector. Or, does the distribution of household income among public housing occupants and private housing occupants overlap significantly or minimally? A well-known result from the economics of housing demand is that households with higher incomes prefer or demand bigger homes, and the size of accommodation is expected to be positively related with income. Given the large difference in the median size of the housing units between the private and public housing sectors (about 40%), an efficient or optimal housing arrangement would require that there be very different income levels between the occupants of these two sectors.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
How do we know the proportion of unsatisfied households is very large? The answer is in the inequity of the public housing program. The distribution of household income between public and private ...
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How do we know the proportion of unsatisfied households is very large? The answer is in the inequity of the public housing program. The distribution of household income between public and private renters overlaps enormously. The housing demands of many public housing tenants cannot be substantially lower than those of private renters. Policymakers in Hong Kong simply fail to appreciate this absolutely important fact. Their ideas about public housing are based on gross misunderstanding. Since public housing tenants are not allowed to exercise choice over their housing units, the value they attach to their units must be lower than the true worth of their unit or its worth to another person. The only way you can get a well-off person to accept or tolerate a small unit is to offer a huge discount. The housing unit is only undervalued to the person who is occupying it. If a market exists and the occupant can rent out this unit to anyone on the market, its true value would be realized.Less
How do we know the proportion of unsatisfied households is very large? The answer is in the inequity of the public housing program. The distribution of household income between public and private renters overlaps enormously. The housing demands of many public housing tenants cannot be substantially lower than those of private renters. Policymakers in Hong Kong simply fail to appreciate this absolutely important fact. Their ideas about public housing are based on gross misunderstanding. Since public housing tenants are not allowed to exercise choice over their housing units, the value they attach to their units must be lower than the true worth of their unit or its worth to another person. The only way you can get a well-off person to accept or tolerate a small unit is to offer a huge discount. The housing unit is only undervalued to the person who is occupying it. If a market exists and the occupant can rent out this unit to anyone on the market, its true value would be realized.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Both public rental housing and HOS housing in Hong Kong are financed through monetizing part of the land values of the HOS units. The land values are not fully monetized because part of the land ...
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Both public rental housing and HOS housing in Hong Kong are financed through monetizing part of the land values of the HOS units. The land values are not fully monetized because part of the land premium is still unpaid and not wholly settled with the Housing Authority. It would make good sense today to develop a single subsidized housing program so the units are available for both rent and purchase, tenants having the option of renting first and purchasing later, as in the case of Singapore’s public housing scheme. Our low-income households would be more than willing to purchase these units if they were priced at an affordable level for them. As long as they are priced to cover at least full development costs, the government would be able to finance the entire cost of providing subsidized housing through monetizing land values. These low-income households would be able to benefit at nobody else’s expense. This would drive government spending on housing down to zero and would help reduce government spending pressure enormously, making scarce government revenues available for other uses.Less
Both public rental housing and HOS housing in Hong Kong are financed through monetizing part of the land values of the HOS units. The land values are not fully monetized because part of the land premium is still unpaid and not wholly settled with the Housing Authority. It would make good sense today to develop a single subsidized housing program so the units are available for both rent and purchase, tenants having the option of renting first and purchasing later, as in the case of Singapore’s public housing scheme. Our low-income households would be more than willing to purchase these units if they were priced at an affordable level for them. As long as they are priced to cover at least full development costs, the government would be able to finance the entire cost of providing subsidized housing through monetizing land values. These low-income households would be able to benefit at nobody else’s expense. This would drive government spending on housing down to zero and would help reduce government spending pressure enormously, making scarce government revenues available for other uses.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0012
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
One of the most important reasons why housing prices in Hong Kong are high is not the absence of land but the rigidities of planning rules and regulations that govern its use. These rigidities make ...
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One of the most important reasons why housing prices in Hong Kong are high is not the absence of land but the rigidities of planning rules and regulations that govern its use. These rigidities make it very difficult, costly, and time-consuming to make land available for housing development, whether in the public or the private sector. The inflexibility of regulatory control is not only limited to land use but also applies to existing housing units, both public rental housing (PRH) and Homeownership Scheme (HOS) units. These units, once assigned to an occupant, seldom become available for other users even when the occupant no longer wants to remain in the unit. The lack of circulation is the major source of inefficiency and inequity in the public housing sector.Less
One of the most important reasons why housing prices in Hong Kong are high is not the absence of land but the rigidities of planning rules and regulations that govern its use. These rigidities make it very difficult, costly, and time-consuming to make land available for housing development, whether in the public or the private sector. The inflexibility of regulatory control is not only limited to land use but also applies to existing housing units, both public rental housing (PRH) and Homeownership Scheme (HOS) units. These units, once assigned to an occupant, seldom become available for other users even when the occupant no longer wants to remain in the unit. The lack of circulation is the major source of inefficiency and inequity in the public housing sector.
Yue Chim Richard Wong
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9789888208654
- eISBN:
- 9789888313044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888208654.003.0027
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
People today see property as more than a form of shelter. They desire to own property as an asset to insure against an insecure future, yet they know that a private sector home is unaffordable for ...
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People today see property as more than a form of shelter. They desire to own property as an asset to insure against an insecure future, yet they know that a private sector home is unaffordable for many of them. That is why they try to climb through the PRH and HOS public housing ladder. But here their aspiration is constrained, because that ladder leads only to a compromised future of partial and incomplete property ownership, where they cannot sell their unit on the open market without paying the exorbitant land premium. Should this be the ultimate prize that the people of Hong Kong have to look forward to? More importantly, can Hong Kong afford to allow this situation to continue?Less
People today see property as more than a form of shelter. They desire to own property as an asset to insure against an insecure future, yet they know that a private sector home is unaffordable for many of them. That is why they try to climb through the PRH and HOS public housing ladder. But here their aspiration is constrained, because that ladder leads only to a compromised future of partial and incomplete property ownership, where they cannot sell their unit on the open market without paying the exorbitant land premium. Should this be the ultimate prize that the people of Hong Kong have to look forward to? More importantly, can Hong Kong afford to allow this situation to continue?
