Hong Kong Housing Authority Racks up HK$13.9 Billion Surplus, and Predicts 2020’s will be just as big

Hong Kong’s biggest provider of public housing expects to record a surplus of more than HK$13.2 billion this financial year, banking on the rising supply of subsidised homes for sale.
The Housing Authority also has a projected cash and investment balance of up to HK$35 billion by 2024.
The authority’s finance committee made the upbeat forecast on Friday in its five-year budget outlook, as it recorded its biggest surplus in almost 15 years at HK$13.93 billion for 2019-20, mostly because of larger profits from selling about 7,000 affordable homes.
The authority’s surplus for 2020-21 would remain high at HK$13.2 billion, similar to last year, as another 7,000 subsidised homes in Sha Tin and North district and on outlying islands would hit the market this year.
Based on the latest updated target under the long-term housing strategy announced by the government last month, officials aim to provide 301,000 public housing units for the 10-year period to 2030.
Hong Kong’s public housing supply has, since last year, been ramped up with an aim of accounting for 70 per cent of the total housing supply target for the next decade, up from 60 per cent, and the authority projected the construction cost for public housing up to 2024 would amount to HK$115.7 billion.
Professor Chan Ka-lok, chairman of the authority’s finance committee, said it would have sufficient cash to cope with building and maintaining public housing for the next five years.
“In the face of upcoming uncertainties, the authority will have to remain vigilant and exercise prudent financial control, to achieve the public housing supply target and to ensure public funds will continue to be used in the most cost-effective manner,” he said.
The world’s costliest home market became 25 per cent cheaper last year
He also dismissed the need for any government funding. It had earmarked HK$82.4 billion, the balance of the previous Housing Reserve, in the fiscal reserves for the development of public housing and related infrastructure.
“The government is committed to building more public housing in the next five to 10 years, for sure that’s going to really increase our construction expenditure. At this point, based on the cash and investment balance as of the end of the five-year period, we are still at a healthy situation … We don’t need any cash injection from the government,” he said.
Source: https://sg.news