Winnie Ho homing in on more cuts in waiting times

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho has expressed confidence that the government will be able to reach its public housing waiting time target of four and a half years. She was speaking in an interview with RTHK, a day after the Housing Bureau said the figure had fallen below the five-year mark for the first time in more than eight years. "We are now entering a new phase," Ho said. "Last time, the average waiting time was 5.1 years; this time, we’ve dropped to 4.7 years – and going forward, you'll likely hear more often about waiting times in the four-year range. "Within this administration’s term, we can say we’ve capped the waiting time at under five years, and we’re now pushing further toward our goal of reaching four and a half years." Ho said this year would see the completion of more than 20,000 light public housing units – the most so far. She expressed hope that the public would recognise the fact that the reduction in average waiting time since the current administration took office came not only through the introduction of light public housing, but also by intensifying efforts in building traditional public housing and improving the reallocation of existing units. "In the next 10 years, can we push further – capping the waiting time at four years and moving towards a target of just over three years? I believe this is the natural progression," she said. Ho added that she would make sure the light public housing projects to be completed this year would be delivered on schedule, with high quality and high safety standards. Edited by Priscilla Ng