Winnie Ho Wing-yin is the current

Secretary for Housing The Secretary for Housing () in Hong Kong is responsible for housing related issues. The position was first created in 1973 and re-created in 2022 after renamed to Secretary for Transport and Housing in 2007. List of office holders Political par ...

in Hong Kong, appointed on 1 July 2022 as part of John Lee's administration.

Biography

According to her government profile, Ho was a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

. Ho joined the government in 1992 as an Architect, was promoted to Chief Architect in 2009, Government Architect in 2012, and Deputy Director of Architectural Services in 2018, and Director of Architectural Services in 2020. In July 2022, she was appointed as Secretary for Housing. Separately, she works in the Energizing Kowloon East Office of the

Development Bureau The Development Bureau (DEVB; ) is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for urban planning and renewal, land administration, infrastructure development, building safety, landscape, greening & tree development, water supplies, f ...

as Deputy Head. In August 2022, news outlets reported that Ho and her husband bought a flat for HK$12.5 million in 2006 with illegal structures, and the government's

Buildings Department The Buildings Department (BD) is a department of the Hong Kong Government responsible for building codes, building safety, and inspection. It was founded in 1993 and is now subordinate to the Development Bureau The Development Bureau (DE ...

ordered the structures removed in 2008. The structures were not removed until 2021, 13 years after the order was issued. In November 2022, Ho said that even though John Lee announced the target to be 4.5 years, the government's goal for public housing wait times is 3 years. In December 2022, Ho revealed that "light public housing" with 16-18 floors would cost HK$680,000 per unit, more than public permanent housing, which cost HK$650,000 per unit. Some lawmakers criticized the cost, saying that the government was not transparent in its cost breakdown. Other people complained that the 4 sites chosen for light public housing were in remote areas. In January 2023, Ho said that light public housing units would not include air conditioning, in order to reduce costs by about HK$200 million.

Personal life

Ho declared that she and her husband own a property in Singapore. In total, Ho owns 3 properties in Hong Kong and 1 in Singapore. In August 2022, a family member tested positive for COVID-19, and Ho underwent quarantine. In October 2022, Ho's driver tested positive for COVID-19.

References

Living people

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Hong Kong {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Winnie Women members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong