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: 6 March 2025 - 26 March 2025
Application closing time: 7 p.m. on 26 March 2025
Application form mailing address:
WSM Unit, Podium Level 4, Hong Kong Housing Authority Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon (Please mark “WSM 2024” on the cover of the envelope)
(Applications submitted before or after the application period or not in the specified manner 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:
6 March 2025 – 26 March 2025 (including Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Location of collection box: Podium Level 1, Hong Kong Housing Authority Customer Service Centre, 3 Wang Tau Hom South Road, Kowloon (near Exit A, Lok Fu MTR Station)
Online application opening time is 8 a.m. on 6 March 2025 and closing time is 7 p.m. on 26 March 2025 (Applicants must complete the application and payment of application fee before the closing time. The closing time will be in accordance with the time of 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:
- Applicants may be one-person or family;
- The applicant must be at least 18 years old and must become the owner of the flat purchased, and must have lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years on the closing date (26 March 2025) of application. The applicant and his/her family member(s) listed in the application form are not subject to any conditions of stay in Hong Kong (except the condition on the limit of stay). Person(s) not having the right to land in Hong Kong cannot be included in the application form;
- Neither the applicant nor any member of the family listed in the application form has, during the period from 24 months preceding the closing date (i.e. 27 March 2023) for submitting the application and up to the date of signing the Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase for the purchase of a flat under this Scheme, owned or co-owned any domestic property in Hong Kong;
- No member of the family or the applicant has received any housing subsidies.
Before filling in the Application Form, either online or paper application, applicants should read carefully the 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.
| Household Size | Total monthly household income limit (HK$) Note | Total net household asset value limit (HK$) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | $30,000 | $615,000 |
| 2 persons or above | $60,000 | $1,230,000 |
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.)
The quota set under WSM 2024 is 6,000, which include 4,500 ordinary quotas and 1,500 additional quotas of the "Youth Scheme (WSM)". All of 1,500 quotas of the "Youth Scheme (WSM)" will be allocated to young family applicants and young one-person applicants aged below 40. In addition to the eligibility criteria of application for WSM 2024, all family applicants and one-person applicants who opt to join the "Youth Scheme (WSM)" have to meet and comply with the following requirements:
- The person who opts to join the "Youth Scheme (WSM)" must be the applicant of this Scheme. The young applicant must have reached the age of 18 on the closing date of application and must be below the age of 40 on the commencement date of application of this Scheme (i.e. 6 March 2025).
- If the young applicant is allocated a quota of this Scheme (regardless of whether the quota allocated to him/ her is under 4,500 ordinary quotas or 1,500 additional quotas of the "Youth Scheme (WSM)", please refer to Paragraph 10.4 of the Application Guide), the young applicant must become an owner or a joint owner of the purchased flat (regardless of whether the adult family member listed in the application form is young people or not). Except for permanent departure, death or other compassionate reasons recommended by the Director of Social Welfare, the name of the young applicant cannot be deleted from the record of owners kept by the Housing Department (HD) and the HKHS in future.
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 this 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 a flat first sold under the “Sale of Home Ownership Scheme Flats 2019” or subsequent sale exercises, and the flat is 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. To provide 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.
The HA Subsidised Housing Committee 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 banks or financial institutions).
In respect of the mortgage arrangements for the SMS, starting from 1 March 2024, 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 banks or financial institutions for a mortgage loan up to 90% of the assessed value or purchase price of the flat (whichever is the lower) for White Form (WF) applicants. From 40 years onwards to 50 years, the mortgage default guarantee provided to participating banks or financial institutions for mortgage loans will be up to 80% 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%, the purchaser of an SSF could check with the participating banks or 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 90% 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 banks or financial institutions starting from March 1, 2024. Highlights of the MIP are set out at the Annex. For queries, please contact any participating banks or financial institutions or call the HKMCI at 2536 0136, or browse the HKMCI website: ( https://www.hkmc.com.hk/eng/our_business/mortgage_insurance_programme.html ).
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.
HA Sales & WSM Hotline
2712 8000 (handled by 1823)