White Form Secondary Market Scheme 2023 (WSM 2023)

The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) implemented the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Secondary Market Scheme (SMS) in June 1997. The SMS is introduced to enable owners of flats sold by HA under various subsidised sale schemes to sell their flats to persons nominated by HA without having to pay a premium. Please visit the HA website (www.housingauthority.gov.hk) for the List of Available HOS Court/Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) Estate under the HOS Secondary Market Scheme.

HOS flats are sold subject to the terms of the Government lease and for some flats, subject also to the terms covenants and conditions contained in the Schedule to the Housing Ordinance and any amendments thereto (hereinafter referred to as “the Schedule”). HOS flats which are subject to the Schedule can be sold under SMS from the third year from the date of the first assignment, at freely negotiated price. For other HOS flats, (i) within the first two years of the date of the first assignment, the HOS flat can be sold under SMS at a price not more than the original purchase price under the first assignment; and from the third year onwards, the HOS flat can be sold under SMS at freely negotiated price. (ii) For HOS 2022 and afterwards flats, within the first five years of the date of the first assignment, the HOS flat can be sold under SMS at a price not more than the original purchase price under the first assignment; and from the sixth year onwards, the HOS flat can be sold under SMS at freely negotiated price.

Transactions in the HOS Secondary Market are done more or less the same way as in the open market. The purchaser and the seller may negotiate on their own or make the transaction through an estate agent and sign the Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase (PASP). To comply with the requirements of SMS, both the purchaser and the seller shall apply to the HA for the requisite supporting documents (including Certificate of Availability for Sale (CAS) for the seller, Certificate of Eligibility to Purchase (CEP) and Letter of Nomination (LN) for the purchaser). The Formal Agreement for Sale and Purchase (ASP) and the Deed of Assignment shall be prepared by solicitors. The above-mentioned PASP, ASP and the Deed of Assignment shall be prepared by using the prescribed forms of the HA/ Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS).

HOS flat owners who sell their flats in the HOS Secondary Market are not required to pay any premium to the HA. Purchasers of flats in the HOS Secondary Market, however, will be responsible for paying the premium when they sell, rent out or assign their flats in whatever manner in open market in the future. This should be clearly understood by both parties when they negotiate prices.

In response to the aspirations of low-and middle-income families to buy their own homes, the HA launched an Interim Scheme to extend the HOS Secondary Market to White Form buyers in 2013 and 2015, and endorsed in November 2017 to regularise the Interim Scheme as the White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) with effect from 2018.

Application Period: 31 July 2023 – 14 August 2023
Application closing time: 7 p.m. on 14 August 2023

Application form mailing address:
Podium Level 1, Hong Kong Housing Authority Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon
(Applications submitted before or after the application period will not be accepted. For submission by post, the submission date is determined by the postmark. Applications which are delivered belatedly or returned by post office to the applicants due to insufficient postage will not be processed.)

Opening hours and location of the application form collection box:
31 July 2023 – 14 August 2023 (including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location of collection box: Podium Level 1, HACSC, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon (near Exit A, Lok Fu MTR Station)

Online application opening time is 8 a.m. on 31 July 2023 and closing time is 7 p.m. on 14 August 2023 (Applicants must complete the application and payment of application fee before the closing time. The closing time will be in accordance with the Application System)

(Attention: Applicants can only submit application through either one of the above ways. If an online application is successfully submitted, the applicant and/or his/her family member(s) listed in the application form should not submit the application form again by post or by hand, or vice versa. Each person can only be listed in one application under this Scheme, otherwise it will be regarded as duplicate applications. Any duplicate application, no matter online or paper application, will render all applications null and void, and the application fee paid is non-refundable and non-transferrable under any circumstances.)

Eligibility criteria include but not limited to the following criteria:

Before filling in the Application Form, either online or paper application, applicants should read carefully this Application Guide to understand the eligibility criteria and regulations, and must fill in and sign the Application Form(for paper application) in accordance with the requirements of the Application Guide. Once the applicants submit the Application Form, it represents that they and the family member(s) listed in the Application Form understand the application requirements and agree to comply with the relevant regulations.

The total monthly household income and the total net household asset value in respect of the applicant and his/ her family member(s) should meet the limits as follows:

Note:
Contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Scheme or Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Authority’s Recognised Occupational Retirement Scheme(s) are deductible from a household’s income for the purpose of vetting the applicant’s eligibility. (At the statutory rate of 5% or the actual contribution amount, with a cap of HK$1,500 and whichever is the less, all contributions other than mandatory contributions are voluntary and thus cannot be deducted.)

Within two years from the date of Assignment (“the restriction period”) of the flat (the Flat) purchased by the buyers in the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) Secondary Market / the Flat-for-Sale Scheme (FFSS) Secondary Market under the Scheme, the Flat cannot be sold under the Secondary Market Scheme for the HOS of the HA / the FFSS of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS). The HA or the HKHS will not buy back the Flat. Flat owners can sell or let the Flat in the open market after payment of premium. As to when the premium can be made, please take reference to the alienation restrictions on the individual court.

If a WSM buyer purchases the flat still within the restriction period, they can neither re-sell the flat in the open market nor the Secondary Market within the first two years of the transaction. An avenue for such WSM buyers to liquidate their assets in any unforeseen circumstances, individual WSM buyers may request approval from Director of Housing for exemption from the restriction for resale in Secondary Market within the first two years of the transaction where circumstances warrant. Such special circumstances include, but are not limited to bankruptcy, a significant drop in household income resulting in difficulties in making mortgage repayment, etc.

Relaxation of Mortgage arrangements for Subsidised Sale Flats in HOS Secondary Market Scheme

The Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) has extended the maximum mortgage default guarantee period and repayment period regarding the subsidised sale flats (SSFs) sold in the HOS Secondary Market Scheme (SMS) from March 1, 2024, (the launch date). The arrangements are applicable to all new mortgage loans drawn down on or after the launch date to finance the purchase of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS)/Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH)/Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) flats transacted in the SMS.

As announced in the 2023 Policy Address, the HA Subsidised Housing Committee earlier endorsed on November 17, 2023, the relaxation of the mortgage arrangements for SSFs by extending the maximum mortgage default guarantee period and mortgage repayment period under the Deeds of Guarantee being provided by the HA to enable purchasers of SSFs to obtain mortgage loans from banks and authorised financial institutions participating in the provision of mortgage loans for such flats (participating financial institutions).

The relevant relaxation of arrangements in respect of the primary market has been implemented earlier. In respect of the SMS, starting from March 1, the maximum mortgage default guarantee period has been extended from 30 years to 50 years for HOS/GSH flats; and from 25 years to 50 years for TPS flats. For the first 40 years, the HA will provide a mortgage default guarantee to participating financial institutions for a mortgage loan up to 95 per cent and 90 per cent of the assessed value or purchase price of the flat (whichever is the lower) respectively for Green Form (GF) and White Form (WF) applicants. From 40 years onwards to 50 years, the mortgage default guarantee provided to participating financial institutions for mortgage loans will be up to 80 per cent of the assessed value or purchase price of the flat (whichever is the lower). In case the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio required is above 80 per cent, the purchaser of an SSF could check with the participating financial institutions whether he/she needs to apply for a mortgage loan under the Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP) of the HKMC Insurance Limited (HKMCI). To this end, the HA has reached an agreement with the HKMCI that the latter will allow SSF purchasers in the SMS to apply for a mortgage loan under the MIP to obtain mortgage loans up to an LTV ratio of 95 per cent for GF applicants and 90 per cent for WF applicants.

Meanwhile, the maximum mortgage repayment period for HOS/GSH/TPS flats sold under the SMS has been extended from 25 years to 30 years.

If purchasers of SSFs would like to apply for a mortgage loan under the MIP of the HKMCI, they may submit applications to participating financial institutions starting from March 1, 2024. Highlights of the MIP are set out at the Annex. Details of the MIP has been uploaded on the HKMCI's website on March 1, 2024 (www.hkmc.com.hk/eng/our_business/mortgage_insurance_programme.html). For further queries, please contact any participating financial institutions or call the HKMCI at 2536 0136.

Annex

Highlights of Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP) are as follows -

• MIP is applicable to HOS/GSH/TPS flats sold under the SMS without payment of premium;
• All applications of MIP should meet the eligibility criteria as required by HKMCI, including but not limited to the debt-to-income ratio (DTI) (applicants are required to provide relevant income proof for approval);
• Single and annual premium payment options are available. For single premium payment option, the premium amount may be financed by the mortgage loan; and
• HKMCI offers pre-approval services to the prospective purchasers who can thus know their eligibility for the MIP before buying a property. Interested prospective purchasers can submit their applications and the required documents to the HKMCI through the participating financial institutions before signing the Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase. Under normal circumstances, HKMCI will provide the indicative approval result within five business days after HKMCI has received all the required documents from the participating financial institutions.

List of Participating Banks and Financial Institutions

List of Participating Banks and Financial Institutions

2712 8000 (handled by 1823)