Research Reports
《Anchoring Talent in the Northern Metropolis: Four Policy Proposals to Help Young Households Put Down Roots in Hong Kong’s New Economic Engine》
We have released 《Anchoring Talent in the Northern Metropolis: Four Policy Proposals to Help Young Households Put Down Roots in Hong Kong’s New Economic Engine》. The study argues that for the Northern Metropolis to become Hong Kong’s new economic engine, it will need more than housing, railways and innovation hubs. It must also attract young working households to move in, become homeowners and put down long-term roots.
《Smaller and Smaller: Changes in the Size of Newly Completed Housing Units in Hong Kong, 1995–2024》
We have released Smaller and Smaller: Changes in the Size of Newly Completed Housing Units in Hong Kong, 1995–2024. The study finds that while Hong Kong’s housing supply has shown signs of recovery in terms of the number of units completed, the actual amount of newly added living space has not recovered in tandem. Relying on unit counts alone to assess…
HKFEI 2025 Policy Address Recommendations
The Hong Kong Future Economy Institute (HKFEI) submits six housing policy recommendations to the Chief Executive's 2025 Policy Address consultation, urging reform of the housing supply system to rebuild the homeownership ladder, revitalise the subsidised housing market, and avert a long-term economic recession.
Latest Articles
From Bricks and Mortar to Building a Family — The Northern Metropolis Needs Policies That Help Young People Put Down Roots
The Northern Metropolis promises 500,000 new homes, but the down payment — not the mortgage — is the real barrier for young families. With private home ownership among 30-39 year-olds falling from 31.3% to 23.4% since 2002, HKFEI proposes a four-part Buyable, Available, Winnable, Liveable policy package, starting with reducing White Form HOS down payments from 10% to 5%.
Can Hong Kong's New Housing Hold People?
In Hong Kong's housing statistics, one unit equals one unit — whether 27 square metres or 60. This equation has hidden what has truly happened over the past thirty years.
Two Housing Authority Measures — Directing Units to the Most Suitable Households
The Hong Kong Housing Authority's two new measures — the Elderly Owner Flat-to-Flat Exchange Plan and the White Form Rental Plan — represent a welcome shift toward making subsidised housing genuinely mobile. The direction is right, but effectiveness will depend on participation, matching, and the Government's willingness to scale up implementation.
Northern Metropolis Must Not Repeat Tin Shui Wai’s Mistakes: Public Housing Must Shift from “Rental” to “Homeownership”
As the Northern Metropolis takes shape, the government's supply-side reforms are unprecedented — yet the market remains cool and the Tin Shui Wai lessons loom large. The authors argue that shifting public housing from 'rent' to 'buy' is essential to building a stable middle-class community and preventing a repeat of past mistakes.
From Ladder of Upward Mobility to a Ladder Fault Line — Generational Gaps in Hong Kong’s Public Housing Welfare
Drawing on nearly 40 years of data, the HKU Business School’s Hong Kong Economic Policy Green Paper 2026 reveals a serious ‘generational fault line’ in public housing welfare: younger generations now receive far less public housing support than older generations did at the same age. The authors call for sustained expansion of public housing supply to restore upward mobility for young people.
2025 Policy Address: The Right Direction on Homeownership Support, but the Effort Falls Short
The 2025 Policy Address rightly pivots from a sole focus on public rental housing toward helping citizens become homeowners and rebuild the housing ladder, but its six measures — from a larger Home Ownership Scheme supply to a modest White Form rental pilot — are too small to break the impasse.
Tenant Purchase Scheme Stalled — Sandwich-Class Upward Mobility Remains Elusive
Despite growing calls to relaunch Hong Kong's Tenant Purchase Scheme, the government has once again declined, leaving the sandwich class without a viable pathway up the housing ladder. Three targeted fixes — unit circulation, fair pricing, and retained management — could unlock social mobility for tens of thousands of households.
Comprehensive Housing Policy Reform — Promoting Homeownership, Rebuilding the Housing Ladder, and Helping Young People Move Up
Hong Kong's housing ladder has broken, leaving the homeownership rate far below peer economies at about 51%. The authors call for comprehensive reform — expanding HOS, emulating Singapore's model, and coordinating housing, land, population, and economic policy.
Tenant Purchase Scheme: From Failed Lessons to Universal Sharing
Reviewing the 1998 Tenant Purchase Scheme's three design flaws — illiquid units, fragmented management rights, and fire-sale pricing — the authors argue the Government must first unlock turnover in subsidised-sale flats before relaunching any improved version to help citizens climb the housing ladder.
Stagnation in the Subsidised Housing Resale Market — Buying and Selling Restrictions Must Be Significantly Eased
Hong Kong's subsidised housing resale market turned over at just 1% in 2024 — barely half the private market's 2.2%. The authors argue the Government must urgently relax secondary-market quotas and launch a 'flat-for-flat' exchange scheme to rebuild the public-to-private housing ladder.
Severe Shortage of Subsidised Housing Distorts Social Development — A Major Expansion is Needed
Hong Kong's housing policy should not be driven by the public rental housing wait alone. The authors argue the subsidised housing shortage is far more severe and has misled society into a 'public housing above all' mindset, and call for a major expansion of subsidised housing and deeper housing reform.
Phasing Out the Cash Allowance Trial Scheme Is the Right Call — On the Necessity of Subsidy Transition from the Perspective of Economic Theory
The HKSAR Government has decided to end its Cash Allowance Trial Scheme for public-housing waitlist applicants on 30 June 2025. Drawing on George Akerlof’s economic theory and the realities of Hong Kong’s housing policy, the authors argue that in-kind assistance — transitional housing and Simple Public Housing — now offers a more precise and more generous way to help those most urgently in need.
Will Public Housing Reform Undermine the Private Housing Market?
Will expanding subsidised-sale housing crash the private market? Using economic theory and empirical data, the authors argue that fears of a price collapse from public housing reform are overblown — and that reform will likely increase both supply and demand.
How Hong Kong can Reimagine its Greatest Asset: People’s Homes
Hong Kong’s land-sale and stamp-duty revenues have collapsed. Selling public rental housing units to tenants may be a better alternative than tax hikes or spending cuts.
Well-off Tenants Policy Reform Is a Major Step Forward for People's Livelihoods
The Housing Authority's reform of the Well-off Tenants Policy marks a major step forward in addressing Hong Kong's public-housing misallocation and the subdivided-flats crisis. The authors urge the Government to continue refining the policy — reviewing the rent-to-income ratio biennially and further tailoring the rent ladder for different income groups.
Hong Kong Economy Faces Long-term Recession — Housing Policy Needs Comprehensive Reform (Part 2)
The authors argue that Hong Kong's record-breaking prolonged economic downturn is closely tied to deep-seated flaws in housing policy, and that only a bold, systematic, decade-long reform blueprint — built around home ownership for all — can break the impasse.
Hong Kong's Economy Faces Long-term Recession — Housing Policy Needs Comprehensive Reform (Part 1)
Hong Kong is enduring its longest economic contraction on record. The authors trace its root cause to the 2002 'Suen Nine Measures' and argue that comprehensive housing reform is the key to economic recovery.
Well-off Tenant Rents Are Far Too Low — Adjustment Is Essential
Hong Kong's well-off tenant policy lets high-income public housing tenants occupy scarce units at rents as low as 3–5% of their income, far below overseas norms. The data show the proposed reform is fair, modest, and urgently needed to shorten public rental housing wait times and curb the proliferation of subdivided flats.
To Say Goodbye to Subdivided Flats, We Must Never Regulate Starting Rents
Drawing on San Francisco's experience and Hong Kong's own history of rent control, the authors argue that regulating starting rents would worsen the subdivided-flat crisis rather than solve it. They propose instead tightening the Well-Off Tenant Policy, expanding the Unpaid-Premium Rental Scheme, and boosting Category B transitional housing to ease the plight of subdivided-flat residents.
Hong Kong’s Economic Recovery Hinges on Having Enough Adequate Housing
High rents deter talent and investment despite R&D subsidies. The article calls for rapid housing supply expansion, rezoning, and public-housing reform.
Hong Kong must Stop Letting the Well-Off Hog Public Rental Housing
Generous income limits and rent subsidies mean well-off households are occupying public housing, forcing the poor to rent from the cutthroat private market. This needs to change.
The Way Out for Hong Kong's Subdivided Housing Problem
This article proposes two policy reforms to resolve Hong Kong's subdivided housing crisis: (1) adjusting public rental housing rents to be proportionate to tenants' income, and (2) halving the premium for subsidised home ownership schemes. Together, the reforms would shorten public rental housing waiting times, ease the subdivided housing shortage, and impose no additional burden on the government fiscal deficit.
