Chief Executive John Lee said on Wednesday the government aims to cut the waiting time for public housing to less than four years by 2030 as he stressed the need to boost overall supply and eradicate substandard subdivided units.

With the average wait for public rental housing down to 4.5 years in 2026-27, the goal is to lower it even further thanks to an increase in public housing supply to 196,000 flats in the next five years – including 30,000 Light Public Housing units – according to the city's first five-year blueprint.

The government also aims to resolve the issue of substandard subdivided flats by 2030.

"We will take an orderly approach to the eradication of poor-quality subdivided units. Implementing the basic housing unit regime will massively increase the supply of public housing that will take forward the long-term housing strategy," Lee said.

"We will crack down on the abuse of public housing and speed up the turnover of public housing. We will continue to embrace the spirits of people-centric and care for the community, and respond swiftly to the disadvantaged community's needs."

The chief executive said the government plans to utilise public housing resources to help residents move up the housing ladder, while facilitating property ownership among younger people.

On longer-term supply, he envisioned public rental housing to account for 40 percent of total supply in the next decade, with subsidised sale flats and private homes each making up 30 percent.

The government will also promote the use of smart construction technologies, such as modular integrated construction, to speed up production and increase efficiency.

To boost land supply, Lee said the government will make available 2,500 hectares of "spade-ready sites" – those that are ready for development – in the coming decade, of which 1,400 hectares will be ready in the next five years.

"We will gradually release the land into the property market so that the market can develop in a healthy manner," he said.

And in what's termed a "new mindset" on urban redevelopment, officials will use land in new development areas to support the renewal of old districts.

For example, sites in the Northern Metropolis will be reserved for Urban Renewal Authority (URA) projects.

The URA will commit at least HK$40 billion for its initiatives in the next five years.


Edited by Edmond Fong