Govt should improve public housing: think tank

A think tank on Thursday urged the government to improve the quality of public housing as supply catches up with demand. The Our Hong Kong Foundation said it expects the average waiting time for a public flat to fall from the current 5.8 years to 4.6 years by 2027. The foundation’s vice president, Ryan Ip, said 35,000 units are expected to be completed each year in the next five years, exceeding the government's long-term target of 30,800. "The total completion of public housing in the next 10 years, no matter which scenarios, it can fulfil the government's own targets. So, with this overall background, then we can sort of move from quantity to the quality side," he said. "So, first of all, we advocate for a steadily increasing of the size of housing units of public housing in the next five to 10 years.” As for private housing, Ip said the supply will remain stable even though the government saw a record six failed land tenders last year.