#policyaddress2026

AI summary: Hong Kong plans to produce over 35,000 public housing units a year on average over five years starting in 2027/28. Increased supply could shorten housing queues, but one academic said tackling wealth and income inequality is also essential. The government is also tackling public housing abuse.   Hong Kong will continue to increase public housing supply and combat public rental housing (PRH) abuse, Chief Executive John Lee Ka‑chiu said in his  Policy Address 2026 on Wednesday. “The current-term Government has laid a solid foundation for, and is entering the harvesting phase of, public housing production, ” Lee said. “In the next five years, from 2027-28, public housing production will exceed 35,000 units a year on average.” HO Hang-kei, an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong whose research interests include housing policy, commented that ramping up PRH supply is a positive measure.  “I think this is great because, as we know, Hong Kong has been experiencing a shortage of public housing units, so as you can see from previous figures, the queue was very long,” Ho said. “And I think by having more supply, I think it's going to decrease the waiting time for many people actually need them, especially a lot of people are now kind of in the use of temporary housing.” Ho said that there would be some short-term kind of pain, such as a fiscal deficit. But over the medium to long term, he thought the increase in housing supply would benefit Hong Kong. More stable housing could help residents feel more secure about their work, education and other aspects of their lives, he said.  However, Dong Ding, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Baptist University, said that more …