Years of lethargy have set Hong Kong on its way to an entrenched housing crisis, with homes growing smaller but more expensive.
Zoe But said it was the luckiest day in her life when she and her fiancé were chosen in the ballot to buy a subsidised home 25 years ago.
“We were really lucky. Without the flat, we would have had no way of having a home of our own to start a family,” said But, now 59. “Although paying up the mortgage was hard – you couldn’t travel as much as you like or eat whatever you wanted – it was worth it.”
She was among 89,476 applicants who bid for 10,502 flats under the Home Ownership Scheme in October 1997, three months after Hong Kong returned to China.
“We were really lucky. Without the flat, we would have had no way of having a home of our own to start a family,” said But, now 59. “Although paying up the mortgage was hard – you couldn’t travel as much as you like or eat whatever you wanted – it was worth it.”
She was among 89,476 applicants who bid for 10,502 flats under the Home Ownership Scheme in October 1997, three months after Hong Kong returned to China.