Can NGOs still provide affordable homes to Hong Kong? 非政府組織能否繼續為香港提供公屋?

In his 2011—2012 Policy Address, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong announced that the government would actively support nongovernmental organizations’ (NGOs) plans to provide housing for working youths who are unable to afford their own living space. Currently, the government is considering fully funding five NGOs to construct youth hostels on sites owned by the NGOs themselves. The NGOs will run the youth hostels on a selffinancing basis with a rent ceiling set below 60% of the market rent price for flats of similar size in the nearby areas. This lowered rent, the government hopes, would allow young tenants in Hong Kong to accumulate savings in order to pursue their aspirations for personal development. In fact, the Youth Hostel Scheme is not the first time that the Hong Kong government has involved NGOs for the provision of affordable housing; during the 1950s and 1960s, a number of philanthropic housing agencies were established to provide low-cost, working-class accommodations, but most of them have nowadays ceased operation. With the backlog of public housing applications recently reaching a record high, should we or could we restore philanthropic housing traditions in Hong Kong? Can NGOs today become providers of affordable homes?