He explores how housing became
the ‘most important pillar of social policy’ in a system that generally exhibits very
high levels of economic liberalism. The shortage of land, its ownership by the state
as well as Hong Kong’s high population density all played their part. However, the
sustained support for public housing was underpinned by a strong ‘productivist’
ethos of the British colonial administration and the provision of housing as a means
to limit unrest and to gain legitimacy. Under British administration public housing
was used to clear areas of slum housing for economic development and new towns
were created to house the workforce required for new industries. The end of
colonial rule in 1997 coincided with the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS, which
prompted a withdrawal of the new administration in 2002 from assisted homeownership
programs that had been established in the late 1970s. This was intended
to signal that the government would protect property values (by limiting supply).
The public housing programs were initially scaled up, reaching a peak of more than
100,000 new units in 2000/2001, but have since been reduced and at less than
one-quarter of the peak. Yip argues that the ‘deep-rooted government-developer
nexus’ inhibits measures to ‘suppress’ the housing market, and so tackle underlying
affordability problems that have been exacerbated by rising prices and growing
income inequality. Receipts from land sales and stamp duty appear to be at the root
of this nexus. Nonetheless, public support for public housing remains strong not
only among beneficiaries but among the population as a whole.
He explores how housing becamethe ‘most important pillar of social policy’ in a system that generally exhibits veryhigh levels of economic liberalism. The shortage of land, its ownership by the stateas well as Hong Kong’s high population density all played their part. However, thesustained support for public housing was underpinned by a strong ‘productivist’ethos of the British colonial administration and the provision of housing as a meansto limit unrest and to gain legitimacy. Under British administration public housingwas used to clear areas of slum housing for economic development and new townswere created to house the workforce required for new industries. The end ofcolonial rule in 1997 coincided with the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS, whichprompted a withdrawal of the new administration in 2002 from assisted homeownershipprograms that had been established in the late 1970s. This was intendedto signal that the government would protect property values (by limiting supply).The public housing programs were initially scaled up, reaching a peak of more than100,000 new units in 2000/2001, but have since been reduced and at less thanone-quarter of the peak. Yip argues that the ‘deep-rooted government-developernexus’ inhibits measures to ‘suppress’ the housing market, and so tackle underlyingaffordability problems that have been exacerbated by rising prices and growingincome inequality. Receipts from land sales and stamp duty appear to be at the rootof this nexus. Nonetheless, public support for public housing remains strong notonly among beneficiaries but among the population as a whole.
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