Five-Year Plan: Chief Exec. John Lee says wait for subsidised rental flats will fall to under 4 years by 2030

Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee, has announced plans to reduce the average waiting time for subsidized rental housing to under four years by 2030. This is part of the city's first Five-Year Plan, which aims to substantially increase public housing supply through both short and long-term measures. The Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing is currently projected to fall from 4.5 years in 2026-27 to less than four years by 2030-31.

Larger homes will also be made available over the next decade, with the government's Northern Metropolis development set to provide jobs, more housing, and deeper integration with neighboring Shenzhen. The new public housing units will have a progressively enhanced floor area, with a quarter of subsidized sale flats completed from 2031/32 onwards having an area of 45 square meters or more.

By 2030, 40% of the city's new homes will be public rental housing, while subsidized sale units will account for 30% and the remaining 30% will consist of private residential properties. The government will also enforce the Basic Housing Unit regulatory regime to ensure residential buildings meet minimum living conditions standards before being legally let out.