Buying a Flat | Hong Kong Housing Authority and Housing Department

Buying a Flat (Green Form Status)

Eligibility for Purchasing a Flat in the HOS Secondary Market (Green Form Status)

The following categories of persons may apply to purchase a flat in the HOS Secondary Market:

Households of Public Rental Housing (PRH) units under the HA (tenants under conditional tenancies or monthly licencees of HA Transitional Rental Housing units are not allowed to submit application);

Households of Group A Rental Estates/ Elderly Persons Flats (Rental Estates) under the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) (households of Group B Rental Estates or monthly licencees of HKHS Transitional Rental Housing units are not allowed to submit application);

Authorised residents of Interim Housing (IH) managed by the HA;

Holders of a valid "Green Form Certificate - Applicable to HOS Secondary Market Scheme only" issued by the HA/ Urban Renewal Authority (URA); and

Recipients of Rent Allowance for the Elderly Scheme (RAES) administered by the HA.

Single persons as well as families are eligible to apply;
Applicants must be at least 18 years old;
For families, the applicant and the family members must be of kin relationship;
If the applicant and/or family member(s) listed in the application form is/are married, his/her/their spouse(s) must be included in the same application form (except for the divorcee or those do not have the right to land in Hong Kong or deceased). For spouses do not have the right to land in Hong Kong, relevant undertaking should be completed and copies of certificate of marriage, identity document issued in the place of residence should be provided as the supporting documents; the divorcee must provide copy of the certificate of making Decree Nisi Absolute (Divorce) (e.g. Form 6 or Form 7B), otherwise their spouses must be included in the same application form. Failure to do so may render the HA to cancel the applications concerned.

Under the revised Green Form applicants for Subsidised Sale Flats (SSF) eligibility criteria with effect from 31 July 2023, households of PRH and authorised residents of IH managed by the HA and households of Rental Estate of the HKHS who apply to purchase SSF as Green Form applicants should not have owned domestic property in Hong Kong from 24 months preceding the date of the application form for “Certificate of Eligibility to Purchase” up to the date of signing the Provisional Agreement for Sale and Purchase for the purchase of a SSF. In addition, Fixed-Term licencees of the HA will no longer be eligible for purchasing SSF as Green Form applicants. If the relevant Fixed-Term licencees fulfil the relevant eligibility, they can apply to purchase SSFs as White Form applicants.

Rental estates households of the HKHS may approach their respective estate offices for details on their eligibility for application.

Applicant and families who are not eligible to apply:

Those who have purchased a flat or have obtained a loan or subsidies under the following subsidised ownership schemes, as well as their spouses (including the spouses of purchasers and loan/subsidies receivers who were unmarried at that time). Even if the relevant owner/borrower has sold the flat or repaid the loan, he/ she, as well as his/ her spouse, are not eligible to apply-

Home Ownership Scheme (HOS);
Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS);
Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Pilot Scheme/ the Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH);
Middle Income Housing Scheme (MIHS) (Melody Garden);
Mortgage Subsidy Scheme (MSS);
Buy or Rent Option (BRO);
HOS Secondary Market Scheme (SMS)/ Extending the Home Ownership Scheme Secondary Market to White Form Buyers (Interim Scheme 2013 & 2015)/ White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM);
Home Purchase Loan Scheme (HPLS)/ Home Assistance Loan Scheme (HALS);
Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS);
any subsidised housing schemes administered by the HKHS (including Subsidised Sale Flats Projects, Flat-for-Sale Scheme (FFSS), FFSS Secondary Market Scheme, Sandwich Class Housing Scheme and loan/ subsidies under any subsidised housing schemes); and
any subsidised housing schemes administered by the URA.

Within two years after the date of execution of the Deed of Assignment for the purchase of a flat under paragraph 1, the crucial members of 2-person families are not eligible to apply (unless they get married or are permitted to receive the housing benefits provided by their employers). Other family members will not be bound by this restriction provided that they meet the eligibility criteria. A crucial member is a member, other than the owner, listed in an application to fulfill the eligibility criteria of the minimum number of two persons for family applicants.

Member of the Civil Servants’ Co-operative Building Society or any housing scheme of a similar nature or a lessee under any Government Built Housing Scheme (PRH tenants are exempted from this requirement).

Kowloon Walled City clearees who have received the Government compensation set at HOS price level and who have opted to make self-arrangement for accommodation and their spouses listed on the clearance register (including the spouses of clearees who were unmarried at the time of receiving the compensation).

Clearees who had opted to receive cash allowance/ ex-gratia payment granted by the Housing Department (HD)/ HKHS/ URA/ Lands Department in lieu of any form of PRH/ IH, are not allowed to apply within two years after the date of receipt of the allowance/ ex-gratia payment.

Qualified households affected by land resumption and clearance required under the Hong Kong section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link project and the Liantang/ Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point and Associated Works, who had chosen the “ex-gratia cash allowance-only” option shall not apply within three years after the receipt of the allowance.

Households of HKHS’s Group B Rental Estates.

Licencees of the HKHS (excluding households do not meet the minimum occupancy requirement and sign one year fixed-term licence).

Monthly licencees of HA or HKHS Transitional Rental Housing Units.

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Tenants under conditional tenancies or fixed-term licencees of the HA.

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The HA reserves the right to reject applications after scrutiny, and the application fees will not be refunded.

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