Long and short-term subsidised public rental housing wait falls below 5 years

The average waiting time for long and short-term general applicants for subsidised public rental housing in Hong Kong had fallen to 4.7 years as of March, authorities said, marking the first time it has dropped below five years under the current administration.

Despite the decrease in the “composite figure”, which included light public flats, the average waiting time for a standard public rental home remained unchanged at 5.6 years, according to data released on Thursday.

The Housing Bureau said it expected the queue for standard public homes to shorten eventually as a new wave of flats would be completed in the Northern Metropolis.

The megaproject aims to transform 30,000 hectares of land near the mainland Chinese border into an engine for economic growth and a major housing hub.

“The bureau noted that the composite waiting time had dropped to 4.7 years, a decrease of 0.4 years from the previous quarter,” it said.

To ease the short-term lack of public housing, the government in 2022 announced a light public housing initiative, under which temporary flats would be built for applicants who have been waiting for a public rental home for at least three years.

The government built about 9,500 light public flats in 2025 and will complete a further 20,300 units this year, with the aim of providing 30,000 homes by 2027.