Tenants of the first completed social rental housing estate in the Zone A new urban area have started to move into their flats, the Housing Bureau (IH) has announced.
Construction of the estate was completed in July this year.
Zone A, a new land reclamation area primarily being developed for public housing projects, is located between the peninsula’s northeastern coast and the man-made island where the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Macau checkpoint is located.
Most of the public housing projects in Zone A will be subsidised home-ownership scheme (HOS) estates, while the district is earmarked to have only four social rental housing estates.
HOS flats are allocated to successful applicants to buy after every new application round is launched. Those who have not been allocated a flat will have to submit another application next time when the government launches a new round.
Conversely, applications for social rental housing units can be made by eligible residents at any time throughout the year. Eligible applicants will be allocated a flat once units become available – either existing flats become vacant or newly built flats are completed.
Construction of the first three HOS estates in Zone A was completed in 2024, comprising a total of 3,017 flats. Afterwards, successful applicants started in September last year to move into the three estates – Tong Seng Building (東城大廈) on plot B4, Tong Chong Building (東創大廈) on plot B9, and Tong Kai Building (東啟大廈) on plot B10.
An IH statement on Friday said that the bureau started on that day to arrange for successful applicants to sign their tenancy agreements and move into their flats in the first completed social rental housing estate in Zone A – Tong Hong Building (東康樓) on plot A11.
According to the website of the Public Works Bureau (DSOP), construction of the social housing estate on plot A11 was completed in July this year, providing 560 flats.
Afterwards, the social housing project on plot A10 –providing 728 flats – was completed in August, while the one on plot A6 – providing 1,064 flats – was completed earlier this month.
The last social housing project – on plot A5 – is scheduled to be completed in January next year, providing 1,736 flats, according to the DSOP website.
Friday’s IH statement noted that Tong Hong Building on plot A11, which has 32 storeys plus three underground levels, provides 560 social housing flats, comprising 448 one-bedroom units, 56 two-bedroom units, and 56 three-bedroom units.
The estate is equipped with a public carpark and spaces to be used as commercial facilities and social service facilities, the statement said.
The statement said that the four social rental housing estates in Zone A will provide a total of 4,088 flats – Tong Fu Building (東富樓) on plot A5, Tong Kuai Building (東貴樓) on plot A6, Tong On Building (東安樓) on plot A10, and Tong Hong Building (東康樓) on plot A11.
The statement said that while construction of Tong Fu Building on plot A5 is still underway, construction of Tong Kuai Building on plot A6 and Tong On Building on plot A10 has been completed. The Housing Bureau is now examining the conditions of these two estates and rectifying possible deficiencies before being able to arrange for successful applicants to move into their flats in due course, the statement said.
Meanwhile, construction of five more HOS estates in Zone A was completed between November last year and August this year, comprising a total of 5,254 flats. Afterwards, the Housing Bureau started last month to arrange for successful applicants to choose their flats in the five estates – Tong Veng Building (東榮大廈) on plot A1, Tong Keong Building (東強大廈) on plot A2, Tong Man Building (東民大廈) on plot A3, Tong Tat Building (東達大廈) on plot A4, and Tong Ip Building (東業大廈) on plot A12.
This handout photo released on the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website earlier this year shows the completed Tong Hong social housing estate (front) in Zone A.
