Survey shows more than half ‘dissatisfied’ with housing policies

More than half of respondents to a housing demand survey reported dissatisfaction with the local government’s housing policies.
The survey, carried out by local think tank Collective Wisdom Policy Center, was released last week. After examining nearly 1,200 valid questionnaires, it found that 56% of those interviewed were either “dissatisfied” or “strongly dissatisfied” with Macau’s housing policies.
Approximately 60% of respondents disagree with the government’s latest proposal to increase the eligible age for an affordable housing application. They say that the application procedure takes a long time, hence applicants should be allowed to apply earlier.
Three quarters of respondents agree with the government plan to launch new types of houses which are built for specific purposes, such as for senior citizens, youth and civil servants.
Approximately 40% of respondents are supportive of housing for working couples with children, saying that parents should be assisted first when the government builds a new type of house. The new housing project is expected to assist with the replacement of old buildings with less than seven stories, as well as help get youth to step onto the property ladder.
However, only 54% of respondents believe that new system will successfully alleviate the poor market conditions.
More than half of the respondents said that the government did not allocate sufficient resources for the implementation of its housing policies. Fifty-six percent of the respondents think that the government’s resources for housing policies are “ordinary,” nearly 30% think they are “not sufficient,” while only 8% believe they are “sufficient.”
Housing continues to be one of Macau’s most pressing socio-economic problems, according to reports, studies and surveys carried out each year. According to calculations by the vice president of Collective Wisdom Policy Center, Chan Ka Leong, Macau is still 78,000 house units short of meeting the market demand.
Chan’s calculation was based upon the assumption that Macau has 118,000 households where families live as a core unit, consisting of a working couple, their elderly parents and their children.