The government is set to unveil plans in next Wednesday's Policy Address to relaunch a scheme for public housing tenants to buy their flats at a discount, RTHK has learned.

Sources say officials are likely to consult residents of "several public housing estates" as the first step in reviving the Tenants Purchase Scheme.

Introduced in 1998, the initiative allows sitting tenants in selected public housing estates to buy their units at a cheaper price.

The scheme, which covered over 180,000 units across 39 public housing estates, came to an end after the launch of the final phase in August 2005.

Sources told RTHK that the upcoming policy blueprint will mention reintroducing the scheme, with the Housing Authority "highly likely" to select a few estates to gauge people's thoughts before deciding which estates are suitable.

In July, Director of Housing Charmaine Lee told a meeting that there have been calls for the scheme to be brought back, noting that around 30,000 units under the programme remained unsold.

To speed up the sale of unsold units, the administration decided in 2020 to put such housing on the market under the Home Ownership Scheme and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme.