Public housing in Hong Kong has gone through a number of transitional stages during the past 50 years.

Between 1950 and 1960, public housing was limited to Emergency Housing/shelter, to resettle fire victims and residents of properties designated for demolition, and it served as relief to those who virtually were without shelter, living in wooden huts, and in other inhuman circumstances.

With the progress of the society, in the 1970s, the housing policy changed. With a view to providing permanent housing for its citizens, the government announced the city's biggest ever housing program to provide living accommodation to 1.8 million citizens over a span of ten years.

Thus, old resettlement housing estates were converted and redeveloped, and more permanent public rental housing estates and new towns were built. Low income families were assured of safe and adequate housing.

Acknowledging the aspirations of citizens to improve their living environments, government policy in public housing changed again to focus on providing quality housing and "Better Housing for All". New public housing estates were built and facilities such as shopping centers were incorporated into the designs so as to provide better services to the tenants.

In 1981, the population residing in public housing was around 2 million. Up to the recent past, the number of tenants residing in public housing was still around 2 million. In other words, there has been no reduction in the number of tenants residing in Public Housing during the past thirty years.

The development of public housing went further in the past decade. The government gradually pulled out from directly providing public housing and increased the role of the private property market. Instead of building public housing, government tended to provide financial subsidies to those who could not afford to buy housing in the private market or buy back their own public housing flats.

Following the change of sovereignty in 1997, the government came up with various initiatives to encourage households with sufficient means to buy their own flats, encouraging those families to vacate their units to make room for others in need. Those able to look after themselves would be taken off the safety net of public subsidies as far as possible. Public housing in that sense was meant to serve only as a last resort for the lowest income group.

Thus in retrospect, public housing in the 1950 to 1960 period was provided only as emergency housing and shelter. In the 1970s, the housing policy was changed to provide permanent housing to the citizens. After the mid 1980s, the government policy in public housing changed to provide quality housing. And from 2000 until now, the government gradually pulled out of direct involvement in providing public housing while the private property market played an increasing role in addressing the housing needs of the greater masses. The middle classes were encouraged to buy their own flats.

Today, with the price of luxury flats in certain locations in Hong Kong going way over the range of affordability of the average would-be home-owner, the government again is being called to the scene.

When new housing policies and schemes are required to keep up with the aspirations of citizens, public housing policy in Hong Kong will surely continue to move forward to meet the challenges ahead.

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.

(HK Edition 09/07/2010 page4)