The development of new prime location public housing (PLH) is an opportunity for a deep rethink of the Housing Board's decades-old policy of building affordable flats for families for owner occupation, while letting home owners enjoy capital gains if they decide to sell the flat on the resale market after the minimum occupation period (MOP).

The new PLH model announced last week changes the rules of the game in a definitive way. Changes include: introducing higher subsidies to keep these flats affordable; lengthening the MOP from five to 10 years; not allowing renting out of the whole flat; and introducing a "subsidy recovery" regime to make sure flat sellers pay back a percentage of resale flat prices to make up for the extra subsidies enjoyed on initial purchase.