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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2021-05-30 07:00
Last update date: 2021-05-30 07:00
The Housing Authority updated the actual public housing production figures for the past ten years in the middle of the month. The total number of public rental housing and subsidized sale units in 2020/21 was only 11,261 units, which was only higher than the 9,938 units in 2014/15 and 2011/12. Of 11,186 units.
If we only look at the part of public rental housing, there will only be an increase of 6,261 units in 2020/21, a drop of nearly two-thirds compared to 17,658 units in 2018/19, and it is the lowest year in the past ten years.
At the same time, even if the 966 rental housing units built by the Housing Society during the same period are added, there are still only 12,152 new public housing units in 2020/21, while the number of private housing completions in 2021 is 20,888 units higher than that. More than 70%, surpassing the 2014/15 year when private housing was completed by about 50% more than public housing. Therefore, last year was actually the largest gap in the number of private housing and public housing completions in the past ten years.
Forecast of housing construction continues to be inaccurate
It is worth noting that the Housing Authority evaluates the forecasted housing production for the next five years based on the progress of the housing construction plan every quarter.
Regarding the forecasted housing production volume for 2020/21, the Housing Authority had forecasted 16,600 units at the end of 2016, and increased to 18,700 units at the end of 2017. By the end of 2018 and 2019, it was reduced to 18,100 units and 13,000 units. At the beginning of this year, it was reduced to the remaining 11,300 units, which shows that the Housing Authority cannot grasp the completion speed of its buildings.
There is no hope for private buildings at the grassroots level, and public housing has become another option.
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If we say that the number of housing production in 2020/21 may be affected by the anti-amendment campaign the year before and the new crown epidemic last year, then we might as well look at the Housing Authority’s forecast of housing production in 2017/18.
At the end of 2016, the number was 20,600 units. At the beginning of 2017, it was fine-tuned to 19,100 units. At the end of 2017, it was reduced to 18,500 units. When the settlement was about to settle in early 2018, it plummeted to 13,700 units. As a result, the actual housing construction volume was really only 13,661 units. Obviously involved in the HA’s assessment.
Unbalanced proportion of public and private buildings
Moreover, compared with the private residential market, the speed of unit completion seems not to be too affected by the epidemic last year, because the completion of public and private buildings in 2018/19 can exceed 20,000 units, and in 2019/20 when the anti-revision campaign occurs, the rate of unit completion should not be too much. The number of people has also dropped to about 13,000 at the same time. The only difference is that there is a gap of 8,736 units in 2020/21 when the epidemic is raging. Will the epidemic avoid private construction sites and target public housing construction sites?
When the government announced the "Long Term Housing Strategy" seven years ago, it had set the target ratio of public-private housing supply at 60:40. By 2018, the ratio was further changed to 70:30. However, since the implementation of the Long Term Housing Strategy, there has never been a year to achieve the target. As a result, the ratio of the number of houses built last year was even lower than 40:60. Such achievements and efficiency really make people question whether the relevant principals are really willing to implement the goal.
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