Income ceilings for sandwich-class housing application set

The government has established the minimum and maximum limits for the income of those aiming to apply for the so-called “sandwich-class housing.”

The government’s official gazette contains details about the new law regulating this new type of acquisition of public-built housing.

To be eligible for this type of housing unit, the candidate (if single) or the candidate’s household (in the case of marriage or a de facto relationship) cannot possess a monthly income lower than 50% of the maximum ceiling established for the acquisition of this housing. To establish the upper limit the maximum ceiling established for the acquisition of this housing is used as a reference, plus 10%.

In practical terms, and considering the currently established ceilings, a single candidate needs a monthly income between 19,175 and 42,185 patacas, while a couple (or larger household) will need a minimum income of 38,345 and a maximum of 84,359 patacas to be eligible.

An amendment to these limits can happen at any time via an order from the Chief Executive, without the necessity of changing the law.

The candidate’s assets before an application also play a role with 20% to be added to the maximum limit in use for the economic acquisition housing.

In this sense, a single candidate can have assets with a net worth of 1,505,880 patacas, while this amount rises to 3,011,760 patacas in the case of a couple or larger household.

Also, one of the requirements is related to the age of the applicant, with single candidates needing to have a minimum age of 23 years, while in the case of those married, the requirement falls to 18 years.

In both cases, applicants need to be permanent residents of Macau and will need to effectively live in the housing unit acquired under this system for a minimum of 183 days per year.

After purchase these housing units cannot be resold before 16 years have passed. Even after this selling period has expired, the house unit owner can only resell the unit to the government, in this case represented by the Housing Bureau (IH).

The IH will reacquire the unit for the same price as the initial sale, deducting from that amount the price of any renovation works necessary to reestablish the unit’s livability conditions.

When the law (Law 17/2023) was passed at the Legislative Assembly, the major concern raised by the lawmakers was the fact that there is no forecast from the government side on  the selling price of the units to be built under this scheme.

The government currently expects to build some 4,000 units under this scheme, which are to be located at the Avenida de Wai Long in the former land of the La Scala development.

The government is said to be considering building up to 10,000 sandwich-class housing units depending on the real needs and acquisitive power of the residents.

This new regime comes into force on April 1, 2024.