The government should resume construction of subsidized housing units under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), which were abandoned in 2001, Chief Executive Donald Tsang was told Wednesday.

The chief executive, kicking off consultations on the 2010 Policy Address he will deliver in October, was told that given that housing is a very important livelihood issue to people, the problem will explode if it is not handled properly.

Tsang met with the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) members and the National People's Congress (NPC) deputies at separate meetings Wednesday.

Speaking after the meeting, CPPCC Standing Committee member Chan Wing-kee said he urged the chief executive to resume construction of HOS flats but the number of flats to be built per year is open to discussion.

Provided the number of flats is not that large, the HOS flats, which are neither large nor luxurious, will not affect the private property market because they are two different markets, Chan said.

"The housing problem is a source of people's fury," he warned. "Owing to surging property prices, many people, including young couples in their 20s, cannot afford to buy their own homes. If property prices continue to soar, people will get more and more frustrated, furious, so the government must resolve this problem."

Chan revealed that CPPCC members who spoke at the meeting, including a number of local property tycoons, supported his proposal without dissenting views.

NPC deputy Ma Fung-kwok said he proposed to the chief executive that the government's land policy should be more forward-looking and expeditious to save negative consequences resulting from the time lap.

"Even if the government resumes construction of HOS flats, I worry what the market condition will be when the flats are completed in a few years' time," he said.

On a property-related issue, he called for review of the capital investment policy, through which a mainland resident can obtain Hong Kong citizenship by investing HK$6.5 million in the property market.

Such an amount is no longer big money today, he commented. He argued that if many people buy property in Hong Kong, they will merely heat up the market and create speculative activities. And since those buyers do not live here, they do not create economic benefits but they are eligible to welfare in Hong Kong.

In Ma's view, the government should either raise the entry amount or suspend the policy for further review.

After the passage of the electoral reform package in June, Tsang said he would concentrate on various livelihood issues such as housing, the elderly, welfare and the wealth gap.

Another NPC deputy Cheng Yiu-tong asked the government to address the problem of family reunion and cross-boundary families and school children through discussion with Central Government ministries.

At present, only children under 16 can apply to reunite with their parents in Hong Kong. Since the procedure takes years, the applicants become adults long before the desired reunion is in sight. He suggested the SAR government discuss the matter with Beijing, saying the age limit ought to be raised.

He also asked the SAR government to apply to the Central Government for a large site in Shenzhen to build a "Hong Kong community" with such facilities as housing estates, schools and hospitals for the benefit of the new immigrants.