Subsidizing homeownership policy in Hong Kong and its equitable issue

Abstract

Homeownership, a term full of desirable anticipations, plays a significant role in traditional Chinese families. Along with the economic condition and the development of large scale private housing estates in Hong Kong in the 1970s, the aspiration of homeownership has been fostered. In response to the societal demand, the former financial secretary Sir Charles HADDON-CAVE first initiated Hong Kong Subsidizing Homeownership Policy in his budget speech in 1976, with aims to speed up the public rental housing turnover rate and to foster upward mobility. However, it is not possible for the government to satisfy all people’s wants. Public resources are limited. How to distribute resources in a just way is an esoteric area to be investigated. There is no single way to distribute resources equitably because weighing may vary across different circumstances and contexts. Hence, it is a highly controversial issue of whether the government should assist citizens to purchase home and in what sense public resources are distributed equitably. Rather than exploring the impacts of subsidizing homeownership policy, this dissertation is an attempt to bridge the research gap and to find out how equitable it is perceived by the common people especially middle income households in Hong Kong. Consequently, how far the subsidizing homeownership schemes are deviated from or fit into the real world as well as their impacts on housing equity can be estimated. Policymakers can then review whether policy for subsidizing homeownership be sustained or modified to alleviate discontent among different classes.