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If instead we allow a market to exist, then less well-off households
gain a share of the value of the land that would otherwise be lost, and in
so doing they put the land resources to better use and raise the incomes
of everyone. It is a win-win scenario. The outcome will be socially just.

It would therefore make good sense today to push for the adoption
of the SHS so that units are available for both rent and purchase with ten-
ants having the option of renting first and purchasing later.

Hong Kong’s low-income households would be more willing to
purchase these units if they were priced at an affordable level for them.
As long as they are priced to cover at least full development and overhead
costs, the government would be able to finance the entire cost of provid-
ing subsidised housing through monetising land values. These low income
households would be able to benefit at nobody else’s expense. This would
drive government expenditure on housing down and would help reduce
government spending pressure enormously, making scarce government
revenues available for other uses.

The SHS would allow for a more just society where resources are
yielded for all, allowing people to have greater freedom of choice, and build
a better community. By turning Hong Kong into a city of homeowners, it will
enable the government to redistribute more resources to other sectors in
need.

While it is advocated in the first Report that the SHS should be im-
plemented for newly constructed stock of public housing units only, there
remains a potential for the existing stock to be also privatised. In light of the
severity and urgency of the situation, it will be socially just for existing public
housing occupants to also purchase their units and settle unpaid premium
under get the SHS framework, provided that public reception of the SHS is
positive.

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