HA approves implementation arrangements for Sale of Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2024
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA)'s Subsidised Housing Committee today (August 27) approved the average selling prices and sales arrangements for the Sale of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Flats 2024 (HOS 2024) as well as the income and asset limits for White Form (WF) applicants.
"Apart from sparing no effort in constructing public rental housing to eligible applicants to shorten their waiting time, the HA has also been actively providing affordable Subsidised Sale Flats (SSFs) for purchase by the eligible applicants to fulfil their home ownership aspiration. Following the launch of HOS 2023 and the Sale of Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2023 offering a total of about 12000 flats, the HA is going to launch HOS 2024 and start receiving applications in the fourth quarter of 2024," a spokesman for the HA said.
Details of the implementation arrangements for HOS 2024 are as follows:
Flats for sale
The HA will offer five new HOS developments with a total of over 7100 HOS flats, and a new batch of recovered Tenants Purchase Scheme flats under HOS 2024. While the number of new HOS flats put up for sale this time is slightly below the recent peak of about 9100 flats in HOS 2023, as some of the projects to be completed in the coming years have been put up for sale in previous sale exercises, it is still above the average number of around 6 900 flats for sale since the last few HOS sale exercises from 2018.
The new HOS developments are located at a wide variety of locations (including Kai Tak, Kwun Tong, Yau Tong, Tung Chung and Tuen Mun), providing choices of flats of different sizes with saleable areas ranging from about 17.3 square metres to about 47.4 sq m (about 186 square feet to about 510 sq ft), catering for the needs of different applicants. Large flats, with saleable areas ranging from about 41.1 sq m to about 47.4 sq m (about 442 sq ft to about 510 sq ft), have been more popular among applicants and account for about a quarter of the total number of flats. (See Annex 1)
Pricing
The HA continues to price HOS flats at an affordable level. The average selling prices of the HOS flats for sale under HOS 2024, if setting the selling prices at an affordable level, are set at a 30 per cent discount from the current assessed market values (i.e. for sale at 70 per cent of the assessed market values). The selling prices of flats in the five new HOS developments range from $1.43 million to $4.67 million with an average selling price of about $2.7 million.
"Based on the average flat selling price at about $2.7 million with the assumption that the mortgage loan-to-price ratio is 90 per cent and the flat is mortgaged for a term of 30 years at an interest rate of about 4 per cent, mortgage payment is only about $11,600 per month. For one to two-person flats, the average selling price is about $1.7 million and the mortgage payment is only about $7,300 per month, which will be welcomed by young families and young people," the spokesman said.
Priority for flat selection and quota
The HA will implement the Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme (Priority Newborns Scheme) announced under The Chief Executive's2023Policy Address as scheduled. A quota of about 40 per cent of the new flats to be offered for sale under HOS 2024 will be set for balloting and priority flat selection by those eligible applicants applying under the Priority Newborns Scheme and Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members (Priority Elderly Scheme). Family applicants of SSFs sale exercises with babies born on or after October 25, 2023, will be eligible if their babies are aged 3 or below on the closing date of the application of HOS 2024.
The HA will also refine the arrangements of quota allocation at the same time. In the past, the quota is set according to the total number of flats in all developments under a sale exercise. To provide applicants of different application categories a reasonable chance to purchase flats in different developments, the HA has decided to set the quota on a project-by-project basis according to the respective number of flats in individual new HOS developments. In each development, the quota for the Priority Newborns Scheme and the Priority Elderly Scheme is 40 per cent of the number of flats of the development, and the quota for one-person applicants is 10 per cent of the number of flats of the development. The order of priority for flat selection by eligible applicants will be determined by the application category, quota allocation and ballot results. (See Annex 2)
White Form income and assets limits
At the same time, the HA has also reviewed the WF income and asset limits according to the established mechanism. For family applicants with a household size of two persons and above, the income limit was reduced from $62,000 per month to $60,000 per month, and the asset limit was reduced from $1.47 million to $1.23 million, making downward adjustments of 3.2 per cent and 16.3 per cent respectively. For one-person applicants, their income and asset limits were reduced to $30,000 per month and $615,000 correspondingly.
Since the income and asset limits for HOS application are based on citizens' ability to afford home ownership in the private sector, the WF income and asset limits shall be slightly reduced in response to the development of the private property market of Hong Kong.
Source: AI-generated images
Employers and employees should make work arrangements in times of rainstorm warnings
The Labour Department (LD) today (June 8) reminded employers to make prior work arrangements for employees during and after rainstorm warnings and extreme conditions as early as possible, including arrangements on reporting for duty, release from work, resumption of work and remote work (if applicable). These arrangements not only can ensure the safety of employees and smooth operation of organisations, but also are conducive to maintaining good labour-management relations.
"Employers should make prior work arrangements and contingency measures for staff which are reasonably practicable. In drawing up and implementing the work arrangements, employers should give prime consideration to employees' safety and the feasibility of employees travelling to and from their workplaces. Employers should also give consideration as much as possible to the different situations faced by individual employees, such as their place of residence and the road and traffic conditions in the vicinity, and adopt a sympathetic and flexible approach with due regard to their actual difficulties and needs," an LD spokesman said.
To avoid misunderstandings, disputes and confusion, employers should consult and engage employees when drawing up the arrangements and make appropriate updates or amendments based on the experience of each occasion and the needs of both employers and employees as well as the actual situations. The work arrangements should cover the following matters:
* arrangements in respect of reporting for duty;
* arrangements in respect of early release from work;
* arrangements in respect of resumption of work (e.g. the number of hours within which employees should resume duty after the warning concerned is cancelled or extreme conditions come to an end, when safety and traffic conditions allow);
* arrangements in respect of remote work such as work from home (if applicable) (e.g. duty and work arrangements during and after rainstorm warnings and extreme conditions);
* arrangements regarding working hours, wages and allowances (e.g. calculation of wages and allowances in respect of reporting for duty and absence); and
* special arrangements in respect of staff required to report for duty in times of adverse weather or extreme conditions.
"Employers should conduct a timely and realistic assessment of whether there is any need for requiring staff to report for duty at workplaces when rainstorm warning or extreme conditions are in force. In making the assessment, employers should take into account the safety of employees, the business nature, operational needs and urgency of service, with due regard to the manpower requirements, staffing establishment and individual situations of employees, and keep the number of staff at workplaces to the minimum as far as possible," the spokesman added.
If a Red or Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is issued during working hours, employees working indoors should continue to work as usual unless it is dangerous to do so. Supervisors of employees working outdoors or in exposed areas should suspend outdoor duties as soon as practicable. They should arrange for their employees to take shelter temporarily and resume duty only when weather conditions permit. If the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal is still in force by the end of working hours, employees should stay in a safe place until the heavy rain has passed. A suitable area in the workplace should be made available by employers as temporary shelter for employees.
If the Government makes an extreme conditions announcement, apart from those required by employers to report for duty at workplaces, employees are advised to stay in the place they are currently in or in safe places when extreme conditions are in force, instead of heading for work. Employees who have already reported for duty at workplaces could continue to work as usual in a safe manner. If the workplaces are in danger, employers should release staff from work early under feasible conditions and in a safe manner or make available a safe place as temporary shelter for employees. If the working time ends while extreme conditions are still in force, employers can release employees from workplaces in a safe manner or provide a suitable area as temporary shelter for those still at workplaces.
If it is necessary for employees to report for duty at workplaces under adverse weather or extreme conditions, employers should discuss and agree with them in advance the duty arrangements and contingency measures. If public transport services are suspended or limited when the Black Rainstorm Warning Signal or extreme conditions are in force, employers should provide safe transport services for employees travelling to and from workplaces, or grant them an extra travelling allowance.
The spokesman reminded employers to observe the statutory liabilities and requirements under the Employment Ordinance, Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, Employees' Compensation Ordinance and Minimum Wage Ordinance.
"As natural calamities cannot be avoided, for employees who are not able to report for duty or resume work on time due to adverse weather or extreme conditions, employers should neither deduct their wages, good attendance bonuses or allowances, nor reduce employees' entitlement to annual leave, statutory holidays or rest days under the Employment Ordinance, or ask for additional hours of work from employees to compensate for the loss of working hours when they are unable to report for duty," he said.
Employers should note that they have an obligation to provide and maintain a safe working environment for their employees under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance. If employees are required to work in times of tropical cyclone warnings, rainstorm warnings or extreme conditions, employers should ensure that the risks at work are reduced as far as reasonably practicable. Moreover, under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, employers are liable to pay compensation for injuries or deaths incurred when employees are travelling by a direct route from their residence to their workplace, or from their workplace back to their residence after work, four hours before or after working hours on a day when Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or higher, a Red or Black Rainstorm Warning Signal or extreme conditions are in force.
The LD has published the "Code of Practice in Times of Adverse Weather and 'Extreme Conditions'", which provides the major principles, reference guidelines and information on relevant legislation on making work arrangements for the reference of employers and employees. The booklet can be obtained from branch offices of the Labour Relations Division or downloaded from the department's webpage (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/Rainstorm.pdf).
Source: AI-found images
