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進入《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Housing problem needs state support
From left to right, front row, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, People First Party presidential candidate James Soong, Taipei Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-chi and Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang attend a forum yesterday at Taipei City Hall to discuss public housing policy. Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
OUT OF REACH: Providing land and funding support is critical to solving the issue of high property prices and rents, a presidential candidate and mayors told a forum
By Sean Lin / Staff reporter
Central government funding is the key to resolving the twin problems of soaring property prices and rents, participants at a forum in Taipei yesterday said.
The forum was hosted by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je （柯文哲）, who invited presidential candidates and other city mayors as well as their aides to the so-called “capital circle” to discuss social housing policies.
The capital circle, as defined by the Taipei City Government, comprises Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan.
Ko said that steep property prices and rents “are what young people living in Taipei loathe the most,” but previous administrations had done little to improve the situation.
The problem is manifest in the low number of social housing — 6,500 units — which accounts for just 0.68 percent of the total number of houses in Taipei, Ko said.
Nationwide, social housing constitutes a negligible 0.08 percent of the total, putting Taiwan behind other Asian countries and regions, including Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, where public housing exceeds 5 percent of the total.
Ko said that when he visited Seoul in May, he found that the city and the central government have their own companies that manage social housing affairs.
He said that South Korea has systematically implemented social housing policies for 26 years, and that it is a “pity” Taiwan has achieved so little in this respect.
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang （林右昌）, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan （鄭文=燦）, People First Party presidential candidate James Soong （宋楚瑜）, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Kao Chung-cheng （高宗正） and Hua Ching-chun （花敬群）, land and housing policy adviser for Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文）, attended the event.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu （朱立倫）, who doubles as Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） chairman, and Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu （洪秀柱）, whose presidential candidacy faces revocation by the KMT, did not attend.
Soong said he approved of Ko’s efforts to integrate social housing in the capital circle, saying many people from the four municipalities work in Taipei, but cannot afford to purchase or rent a house, and that the policy should be formed as an integrated whole.
However, Taipei’s neighboring municipalities are faced with the challenge of land acquisition, and the central government should provide land to local governments for free to enable local public housing projects, he said.
Lin said the first element for successful implementation of social housing is unstinting support from the central government.
Lin said that public housing would help to restore balanced development across the four municipalities.
For example, Keelung, despite having the highest number of vacant houses among the four municipalities, has the lowest property price/income ratio at 5.28, while Taipei’s stands at 15.73, indicating that Taipei residents pay much more to purchase a home, he said.,
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
