AL approves sandwich-class housing bill amid complaints

The Legislative Assembly (AL) this week passed the regulation establishing applicant requirements for the so-called third type of public housing, also called “Sandwich-class housing,” in its final reading.

The bill was approved with most votes in favor and one vote against, from lawmaker Ron Lam.

Potentially the most disputed part of the bill is Article 28, which refers to the government’s sales price formula for housing units under this scheme.

Apart from Lam’s vote against the bill, several other lawmakers including Ella Lei, Lei Chan U, Lam Lon Wai, Leong Sun Iok, and Nick Lei abstained, disagreeing with the government’s formula.

The formula stipulates the Sale Price (SP) calculation will include the Housing Bureau’s market price evaluation (MPe), which takes into account the price of similar units in the same geographical area in the private market and is corrected by a compensation discount rate (Cdr) – SP=MPe x (1-Cdr).

Few directly elected lawmakers and Macau Federation of Trade Unions representatives supported the formula, mostly because it was linked to the private sector market which they consider to be highly speculative. They thought the formula likely to raise the price of the publicly built residential units to levels that will still exclude most of the population for whom this measure was created.

The law provides that prices will be set at a discount rate when compared to private sector units in the surrounding area. But the rate is not established, being subject to a later decision by the Chief Executive through an executive order.

The sandwich-class housing scheme will apply to permanent residents who are ineligible to buy a flat under the government’s economic acquisition housing scheme that has tighter criteria regarding monthly household income.

At the plenary session, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, reaffirmed that the first batch of this type of housing to become available for acquisition would be located at the Avenida Wai Long in Taipa, in the land plot retrieved by the government and that was originally designated for the La Scala development.

Several lawmakers criticized the bill for its lack of information over the potential final unit price as well as the procedures to take place and their timeline.

Rosário replied that it is too soon to discuss the final price for this type of housing. He said the matter needs to be addressed slowly and progressively and not with impatience or a rush. His response did not please most of those who wanted a clear picture of how much a sandwich-class housing unit will cost and whether such a price is or is not adequate to the needs of the residents.

Some other lawmakers, like Ip Sio Kai, also questioned the procedure, asking the Secretary if it is better to “build the units and then try to see if there is a market for them” or to “form a line” with those potentially interested first and later build accordingly to such expressed needs.

Rosário was unhappy with the many suggestions and questions presented regarding the philosophy of the project during this session. He claimed the bill had already been passed in the first reading and had had a broad discussion in the AL Committee. He accused the lawmakers of “having changed their mind after having approved the bill in the first reading” and of expressing opinions “out of time.”