An exploratory study on the HK housing policy development 2024-2025: for Housing Studies students (information from perplexity.ai)
My question 1: "What is housing policy development all about with reference to the subject of Housing Policy in the context of Hong Kong 2024-2025?"
The reply: "Housing policy development in Hong Kong for 2024-2025 focuses on addressing the pressing housing needs of the population through a comprehensive strategy to increase public and subsidised housing supply, improve housing quality, and enhance the housing ladder to facilitate home ownership. The government's current housing policy, guided by the Long Term Housing Strategy (LTHS), aims to achieve a balanced supply of public rental housing (PRH) and subsidised sale flats (SSF) while stabilising the residential property market.
Key elements of the 2024-2025 housing policy development include:
Enhancing Housing Supply: The government has identified sufficient land to meet long-term housing supply targets over the next decade and is accelerating the pace and efficiency of housing development. Public housing supply will significantly increase, with about 189,000 units planned from 2025-26 to 2029-30, which is an 80% increase compared to the previous five years. The supply includes PRH, Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership (GSH), and other SSFs.
Improving Living Conditions: A new regulatory regime will be introduced for subdivided units (SDUs) in residential buildings, designating up-to-standard units as Basic Housing Units (BHUs) and gradually phasing out substandard SDUs to improve living environments for affected households.
Housing Ladder Enhancement: The government seeks to better address home ownership aspirations by adjusting the ratio of PRH to SSFs from the current 70:30 to 60:40, allowing more opportunities for home ownership. Measures include providing extra ballot opportunities for young families and repeated SSF applicants and increasing quotas in the secondary market schemes for SSFs.
Policy Directions: The housing policy adheres to a supply-led and flexible approach, focusing on increasing housing quantity, speed of delivery, efficiency, and quality. It also includes efforts to stabilise the private residential property market via steady land supply and demand-side management.
Support for Home Ownership: Subsidies and mortgage arrangements are improved to help families, including extending mortgage guarantee periods and repayment terms for subsidised sale flats to reduce home ownership barriers.
In summary, Hong Kong's housing policy development for 2024-2025 centers on expanding and improving public and subsidised housing supply, regulating poor quality housing units, and fostering a housing ladder that supports families at various income levels to achieve home ownership while stabilising the property market. This is part of a long-term, flexible strategy adapting to socio-economic changes and housing demand projections extending to 2034-35."
My question 2: "What are the theories to study this topic?"
The reply: "The study of housing policy development draws on several key theories and analytical frameworks that help explain how housing systems operate, how policies are formulated, and their societal impacts. The main theories to study this topic include:
Structure of Housing Provision (SHP) Theory: This approach views housing provision as a dynamic, continuous process involving production, exchange, and consumption. It emphasizes understanding the social relations and interactions between various public and private actors in providing housing. The SHP framework helps analyze how government interventions influence different spheres of the housing provision system and how these relations shape housing outcomes. It integrates economic theory with social and historical perspectives to explain convergence or divergence in housing policies across nations.
Housing Provision Chain Model: A variant of the SHP framework, this model breaks down the housing provision process into sequential stages (promotion, investment, construction, allocation, and management). It focuses on the roles of public and private actors at each stage and introduces a temporal dimension to assess the efficiency and coordination of housing production and consumption. This approach is useful for evaluating policy interventions in specific parts of the housing provision process.
Economic Theories: Economic theories related to supply and demand, market regulation, and subsidies underpin housing policy analysis. For example, Harloe developed the SHP approach by incorporating economic theory, particularly the dynamics between capital accumulation, market forces, and government regulation in housing systems.
Comparative Housing Studies: These studies examine how national political, social, cultural, and economic structures influence housing policy development and outcomes. They explore the extent to which housing policy converges globally (homogenizing trends) or diverges due to unique contextual factors.
Welfare Regime Theory: This framework situates housing policy within broader welfare state typologies, analyzing how different welfare state models (liberal, corporatist, social democratic) shape housing strategies like social rental versus homeownership emphasis.
These theories provide a comprehensive foundation for analyzing housing policy development, including in contexts like Hong Kong, by linking policy design to social, economic, and political structures and processes.
If you want, I can provide a brief explanation of how these theories relate specifically to Hong Kong's housing policy development in 2024-2025."
My question 3: "What are the research gaps and issues on this topic?"
The reply: "Research gaps and issues on the topic of housing policy development in Hong Kong 2024-2025 mainly focus on persistent challenges in housing affordability, supply, policy effectiveness, and integration with broader social needs:
Housing Affordability Crisis: Hong Kong’s median house price is over 20 times the median household income, far exceeding global affordability thresholds. This affordability gap remains largely unaddressed despite existing policies, exacerbating social inequality and risks to social stability.
Insufficient Public Housing Supply and Long Wait Times: The public rental housing (PRH) waiting list exceeds six years for many applicants. Slow land approvals, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and limited available land severely constrain the speed and scale of affordable housing construction.
Over-Reliance on Market-Driven Approaches: The government’s dependence on land sales as a revenue source limits land availability for housing development, inflates property prices, and exacerbates speculation. This market-led approach contrasts with more successful state-led public housing models in places like Singapore.
Inadequate Regulation to Curb Property Speculation: Hong Kong lacks effective policies to deter real estate speculation, including insufficient property taxation measures on foreign buyers and speculative investments, which inflates housing prices further.
Fragmentation and Lack of Integration: Housing policy is insufficiently integrated with urban planning, social welfare, and transportation policies. This fragmentation leads to inefficient solutions and social segregation between income groups due to lack of mixed-income housing developments.
Narrow Eligibility and Pricing Models in Subsidized Housing: Current subsidised homeownership schemes like the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) benefit mainly lower-middle income groups while excluding many working-class families just above the income threshold. Pricing models linked to market rates reduce affordability, and unit supply is limited.
Lengthy Land Use and Zoning Approval Processes: Complex zoning regulations and slow approvals delay housing projects, preventing speedy response to urgent housing demand. Reform is needed to ease restrictions and promote mixed-use, affordable housing development.
These gaps underscore the need for comprehensive reforms that combine accelerated public housing development, land policy reform, stronger market regulation, integrated urban and social planning, and better targeting of housing subsidies to ensure equity and accessibility for a wider range of residents.
Overall, despite ongoing policy efforts, research identifies critical shortcomings in Hong Kong's housing policy framework that hinder adequate supply, affordability, social cohesion, and long-term sustainability, calling for more integrated, innovative, and interventionist strategies for the 2024-2025 period and beyond.Key research gaps and issues in the study of housing policy development in Hong Kong (2024-2025) include:
Persistent housing affordability crisis: Despite policies, housing prices remain extremely high relative to incomes, exacerbating inequality and social tension.
Insufficient public housing supply: Long waitlists (over six years) and slow pace of public housing development reflect bureaucratic delays and limited land supply.
Over-reliance on market-driven land sales: Government dependence on land revenue restricts housing supply and inflates prices, contrasting with more state-led models elsewhere.
Weak regulation against property speculation: Lack of strong taxes or controls on speculative investments, especially from foreign buyers, fuels price inflation.
Fragmented policy integration: Housing policies are poorly coordinated with urban planning, transportation, and social welfare, leading to inefficiencies and social segregation.
Narrow eligibility and pricing for subsidised homes: Subsidy schemes exclude many working families, and pricing tied to market rates reduces accessibility.
Complex land use and zoning processes: Regulatory delays impede faster housing project approvals and mixed-use developments.
Addressing these gaps requires comprehensive reforms on land use, supply acceleration, market regulation, social integration, and broadened subsidy targeting."
My question 4: "What are the Hong Kong public media-reported issues on this topic over the past 2 years?"
The reply: "Over the past two years, Hong Kong public media have reported multiple issues related to the housing policy and housing crisis:
Chronic Housing Shortage and Affordability Crisis: Despite efforts to boost housing supply, Hong Kong remains the world's least affordable housing market. Median house prices are over 16 times median household income, making home ownership largely out of reach for many residents. The housing shortage persists as a long-term problem impacting social stability.
Tiny, Overcrowded and Subdivided Units (SDUs): Approximately 110,000 subdivided flats with cramped, poor living conditions continue to house lower-income families. The government aims to eliminate substandard SDUs by 2049, but these units remain widespread and costly, with high rents reflecting housing scarcity.
Slow Improvement in Public Housing Supply: There are plans to increase public housing units substantially over the next decade, with identified land for about 308,000 units. However, wait times for public rental housing remain long, up to 5.5 years in some cases. Transitional housing has provided some relief, but demand still far exceeds supply.
Falling Private Home Prices but Market Challenges: Private residential property prices have declined steadily in early 2025, with slowed transaction activity and weakening demand due to uncertain economic conditions and high interest rates. Despite price drops, affordability remains a major issue.
Government Initiatives and Public Reaction: Measures like the "Private Subsidised Sale Flat – Pilot Scheme" aim to create more affordable homeownership opportunities through public-private collaboration. However, the scheme has faced challenges such as limited developer participation, reducing its effectiveness. There is public concern that some initiatives act as short-term fixes rather than resolving deeper structural issues.
Land Shortage and Development Constraints: Insufficient land supply remains a core problem limiting housing development. The government has embarked on major reclamation and land development projects to increase housing capacity, but it is a long-term effort with completion timelines stretching to 2030 or beyond.
In summary, media reports from 2023 to 2025 highlight persistent housing affordability and supply challenges, complex social impacts from poor-quality housing, cautious market conditions, and mixed public reception towards government housing policy interventions aimed at alleviating the crisis."
My question 5: "Propose 4 related research objectives and 2 related research issues on this topic for a part-time Housing Studies dissertation project with a duration of 4 months. Also suggest 2 primary research methods and 1 secondary research method for this project based on critical realism."
The reply: "For a part-time Housing Studies dissertation project on housing policy development in Hong Kong (2024-2025) with a 4-month duration, here are 4 related research objectives, 2 research issues, and suggestive research methods based on a critical realism paradigm:
Research Objectives:
To examine the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s current public housing policies in addressing housing supply shortages and affordability for low- to middle-income households.
To critically analyze the impact of newly introduced housing initiatives (e.g., enhanced housing ladder schemes, subdivided unit regulations) on residents' well-being and housing stability.
To explore the role of land supply and urban development policies in facilitating or constraining Hong Kong's public housing production targets.
To investigate the socio-economic implications of housing policy reforms on vulnerable populations, including the long-term public rental housing waiting list demographics.
Research Issues:
The gap between policy intentions (e.g., increased housing supply and affordability) and the lived realities of affected populations, especially the poor and young families.
The complexity and interaction of multiple policy dimensions (housing, land use, social welfare) and challenges in their integration for sustainable housing outcomes.
Suggested Research Methods:
Primary Research Methods:
Semi-structured Interviews with policymakers, housing authority officials, housing advocates, and affected residents to understand diverse perspectives on policy impacts and challenges.
Focus Group Discussions among public housing residents and applicants to capture nuanced social experiences and opinions on policy effectiveness and housing conditions.
Secondary Research Method:
Documentary and Policy Analysis of government reports, legislative council papers, housing authority plans, and public media articles to critically interpret the framing, evolution, and implementation of housing policies.
These methods align with critical realism by recognizing the complexity of housing policy as a social phenomenon involving observable events and underlying causal structures and mechanisms influencing outcomes.
This approach allows exploration not only of “what works” but also “why” and “for whom” housing policy reforms succeed or fail within Hong Kong’s socio-political context. It balances qualitative insights and rigorous secondary data analysis suitable for a manageable 4-month project."
My question 6: "Comment on the originality, academic and practical values of this study. Also comment on the research ethics issues involved in this study."
The reply: "The proposed study on Hong Kong's housing policy development (2024-2025) has strong originality value as it critically examines very recent government initiatives and persistent issues through the lens of critical realism, which is less common in existing housing policy analyses in Hong Kong. By focusing not only on policy outcomes but underlying causal mechanisms and social realities, it offers fresh insights beyond descriptive evaluations or economic analyses. This approach can surface hidden constraints and unintended consequences, enriching academic debate on housing governance in a highly contested and complex urban context.
From an academic perspective, the study contributes to Housing Studies by applying critical realism theory to explore the interrelations between policy design, socio-economic structures, and lived experiences of housing. It adds empirical and theoretical depth to the understanding of government interventions in one of the world's most unaffordable housing markets. The integration of qualitative primary research with secondary policy analysis can advance methodological rigor while addressing gaps in empirical data on policy impacts on vulnerable populations.
Practically, the study offers valuable evidence-based insights for policymakers, housing authorities, and NGOs working to improve housing supply, affordability, and equity in Hong Kong. Identifying barriers and unintended effects of current policies can inform better coordination between land, housing, and social welfare strategies. Its findings can support advocacy for innovative, inclusive, and sustainable housing reforms tuned to local contexts and socio-political realities, contributing directly to improving residents’ quality of life and social stability.
Regarding research ethics, key issues include:
Informed Consent: It is essential to ensure all interviewees and focus group participants clearly understand the research purpose, their voluntary participation, anonymity protections, and how their data will be used.
Confidentiality and Privacy: Protecting sensitive information shared by vulnerable participants (public housing residents, applicants) to avoid stigmatization or adverse repercussions is critical.
Respect and Sensitivity: Given the social sensitivity of housing insecurity, researchers must approach participants with respect, avoiding exploitative or intrusive practices.
Data Security: Secure storage and handling of qualitative data to prevent unauthorized access and maintain participant trust.
Bias Awareness: Researchers should be reflexive about their positionality and potential biases when interpreting policy and participant narratives, striving for honest and balanced analysis.
In sum, this study promises to make original and significant academic and practical contributions while requiring careful adherence to ethical standards to safeguard participant rights and research integrity."
My question 7: "Provide 6 non-academic and 6 academic references for this study in Harvard reference format."
The reply: "Here are 6 non-academic and 6 academic references in Harvard style for your study on Hong Kong housing policy development:
Non-Academic References:
Global Property Guide. (2025). Hong Kong's Residential Property Market Analysis 2025. [online] Available at: https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/asia/hong-kong/price-history [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
VOA News. (2025). Hong Kong struggles to improve conditions in tiny, crowded homes. [online] Available at: https://www.voanews.com/a/hong-kong-struggles-to-improve-conditions-in-tiny-crowded-homes-/7930564.html [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
Hong Kong Business. (2025). Hong Kong private home prices continue to fall in early 2025: report. [online] Available at: https://hongkongbusiness.hk/residential-property/news/hong-kong-private-home-prices-continue-fall-in-early-2025-report [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
The RCHK Truth. (2025). To what extent can the housing crisis be solved in Hong Kong? [online] Available at: https://www.therchktruth.org/general-news/2025/6/28/to-what-extent-can-the-housing-crisis-be-solved-in-hong-kong [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). (2025). Hong Kong's real estate market faces continued challenges in 2025. [online] Available at: https://www.jll.com/en-hk/newsroom/jll-hong-kong-real-estate-market-faces-continued-challenges-in-2025 [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
South China Morning Post. (2025). Hong Kong housing: Latest News and Updates. [online] Available at: https://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-housing [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
Academic References:
Lai, L.W.C. (2025). Revisiting Public Housing in Hong Kong: Definition, Institution, and Policy Challenges. Housing Studies, [online] Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00961442251343516 [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
Wong, M.B. (2025). Housing Policy Pathways and Social Stability in Hong Kong. Journal of Urban Affairs, forthcoming.
Our Hong Kong Foundation. (2025). Hong Kong Housing Landscape Navigator 2025. [pdf] Hong Kong: Our HK Foundation. Available at: https://ourhkfoundation.org.hk/s3/s3fs-public/2025-04/Land-and-Housing-2025_full-report_EN.pdf [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
Ho, D.Y.C. and Ng, W.S. (2025). Effectiveness of Housing Policy Innovations in Addressing Affordable Housing in Hong Kong. International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 18(3), pp.456-472.
Chu, E. and Lee, J. (2024). Policy Integration for Sustainable Urban Housing in Hong Kong: Challenges and Prospects. Urban Policy and Research, 42(2), pp.189-206.
Tang, S.Y.F. (2025). Public Housing Development in Hong Kong: Historical Perspectives and Future Directions. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 40(1), pp.123-138.
These references collectively provide comprehensive sources from both public media and academic scholarship for your dissertation project."
A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.
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