The government needs to cater for the housing needs of Hong Kong’s young graduates

Not so long ago, university graduates in Hong Kong received good job offers, were able to buy a flat three to four years after graduation and lived a happy middle-class life. This picture, however, has changed starkly.

Most graduates of tertiary institutions today do not end up with nice jobs and can’t afford to buy their own home. Many of them resort to applying for public housing. Nevertheless, the waiting time is between four and seven years, if they are eligible.

The government should build more subsidised public housing flats to meet the demand of this new type of customer. When officials claim there is no land to build public housing flats, it is nothing but an excuse. Many outlying islands and the hillsides north of Sha Tin, for instance, could be transformed into public housing estates. We have billions of dollars in fiscal reserves that should be put to good use.

According to government figures released on January 6, applications for public housing by non-elderly singletons with tertiary education totalled about 140,000, or 46 per cent of all applicants. This is a staggering percentage.