The Housing Authority today approved the average selling prices and sales arrangements for the sale of Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) flats. Applications for purchasing the GSH flats will be accepted in the current quarter.

The authority expects that the ballot for GSH 2023 will be held in the second quarter and flat selection is expected to start from the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Unlike in previous sale exercises, the new GSH flats put up for sale under this exercise will no longer include Type A flats of a smaller size.

A total of 2,359 flats at a new GSH development, Lai Yuet Court in Cheung Sha Wan, will be put up for sale, with the flat ranging in size from 26 sq m to 60 sq m.

Around 180 unsold or rescinded flats from Kai Chuen Court in Diamond Hill, Ko Wang Court in Yau Tong and Kam Pak Court in Ma On Shan will be also included in this sale exercise.

Pursuant to the prevailing pricing mechanism, GSH flats will be sold at a discount greater than that in the preceding Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) sale exercise. Whereas the discount rate for Sale of HOS Flats 2023 was set at 38% on assessed market values, the discount rate for all GSH flats offered under this sale exercise will be set at 48%.

In addition, the authority today also approved implementation arrangements for two new housing schemes as announced in the 2023 Policy Address.

It will launch the Families with Newborns Allocation Priority Scheme starting from April 1. Under the scheme, Public Rental Housing applications involving families with babies born on or after October 25, 2023 and aged one or below will be credited with a waiting time of one year.

Another new housing scheme is the Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme. Applications in subsidised sale flat sale exercises from families with babies born on or after October 25, 2023, will be eligible if their children are aged three or below on the closing day of the application of a particular sale exercise.