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1. Introduction
The shortage of land and housing is a perennial issue among
the people of Hong Kong. Hence, as its first area of focus, Our Hong Kong
Introduction
Foundation (OHKF) published a research Report titled “Maximising Land
Use to Boost Development; Optimising Housing Resources to Benefit All” in
November 2015.
The said Report proposed to extend homeownership to the
underprivileged by advocating for the implementation of the “Subsidised
Homeownership Scheme” (SHS). The Report saw the SHS as an effective
and viable policy option that could not only satisfy the demand for property
ownership, but also to release valuable land resources. This in turn can
steer the community of Hong Kong towards a direction of social harmony
and prosperity.
In this second edition, the socioeconomic ramifications of the
current housing policy are laid out and analysed. The objective of this
research is to provide a clear and concise picture of how the public housing
programme is detrimentally affecting the livelihood of the people residing
within it. This further sheds light on the immense cost of our current
housing policy on the society of Hong Kong and offers recommendations
on a rethinking of current policies.
The Report is organised into seven main chapters: First,
Background: The Contemporary Picture sets the scene by providing
background information to the housing situation today and to introduce
the urgency for the need to implement the SHS.
The following four chapters: The Inequality and Inequity of Housing
Units; Divorce and Family Breakdown; Intergenerational Immobility and
Poverty; and Public Housing Policy and Social Justice serve as an in-depth
analysis on the price of our misguided housing policies with each chapter
focusing on an overarching theme.
The subsequent benefits of the SHS are then discussed in The
Subsidised Homeownership Scheme.
Next, Concerns addresses the salient issues of property prices and
the notion of unfairness that critiques of the SHS have suggested.
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