The overall waiting time for public housing in Hong Kong remains at 5.1 years

Opinion Web Hong Kong Report: On February 13, the Hong Kong Housing Authority announced that as of the end of December 2025, the overall waiting time for general applicants to be allocated traditional public housing or “Simplified Public Housing” remained at 5.1 years, maintaining the lowest record since the first quarter of 2018. Compared to the high of 6.1 years before the current government took office, the overall waiting time for public housing has been shortened by a full year.

The Housing Authority stated that in 2025, the number of general applicants allocated traditional public housing remained high at over 20,000 cases, nearly 6,300 more than the 14,500 new applications registered that year, helping to clear a significant backlog. The Housing Authority’s annual allocation of traditional public housing has consistently exceeded the number of new applications in the same year for two consecutive years, a first in its records.

Additionally, the number of general applicants waiting for public housing further declined. By the end of December 2025, there were approximately 106,300 general public housing applications and about 81,500 non-elderly single applications under the quota and points system. Compared to the peak of 156,400 and 143,700 respectively, the number of general public housing applications and non-elderly single applications has decreased significantly by over 30% and over 40%. Among these, the decline in non-elderly single applications under 30 years old was even more pronounced, dropping from about 74,500 to approximately 29,500 over the past 10 years, clearly indicating that the public housing waiting queue is being absorbed.

The Housing Authority also said that looking ahead to the five-year period starting from 2026/27, the total public housing construction volume will exceed 195,000 units, an increase of over 80% compared to when the current government took office. Among these, about 115,000 traditional public housing units are expected to be completed during this period, reaching a peak in supply. Regarding “Simplified Public Housing,” about 9,500 units were completed and occupied in 2025, and approximately 20,300 and 200 units are expected to be completed in early 2026 and 2027 respectively, gradually moving toward the goal of constructing about 30,000 “Simplified Public Housing” units before the 2027/28 fiscal year. The overall waiting time for public housing is also targeted to decrease to 4.5 years in 2026/27.

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