The Housing Authority on Thursday offered assurances that shortening the resale restriction period of government-subsidised flats will not encourage speculation, after a committee approved the change.

The cut, which was put forward in the chief executive's latest policy address, would mean homeowners of subsidised housing only have to wait 10 years – instead of the current 15 – to put their flats on the open market after paying the premium.

The shorter restriction period will apply to flats in the next round of sales for the Home Ownership Scheme.

"Over the years, there were not a lot of subsidised flats being sold on the open market," said Cleresa Wong, who chairs the authority's subsidised housing committee.

"Most homeowners would prefer selling their flats via the White Form Secondary Market Scheme, if they were to put their units up for sale. So I believe the change would not encourage speculative activities."

The white form scheme is designated for non-public housing residents who are eligible to buy subsidised flats.

The restriction period was last raised from 10 to 15 years in 2022, and Wong said the authorities would look into ways to make changes to leases of subsidised flats purchased in the last several years so that it might take less time for homes to be put up for sale.

Ryan Ip, vice-president of think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, told RTHK that the administration could assist homeowners who bought subsidised flats in the past few years.

"There would always be opportunities or scenarios for policy changes, and I think that should already been factored in their purchasing decisions," he said.

"One thing the government could do is to... allow those who have bought [Home Ownership Scheme] units in the past few years to also enjoy the reduced moratorium."

Other measures approved by the committee included adjusting the quota for subsidised flats split between public rental housing tenants and eligible families living in private rental homes from 40:60 to 50:50, and offering 1,000 more places under the secondary market scheme for white form applicants.