DENTKALJ
2
It will be seen from this table that 1969 has been a poor year for the provision of accommodation but, though the private sector is unlikely to produce very much in 1970, the public sector seems likely to more than redress the balance. Next year production of private, Government and Government-aided domestic accommodation will be up by about 34 per cent on 1969 and, teking only a rather conservative view of the private sector, the overall production of housing in the next three or four years should equal or exceed what was available in the 1964-1968 years of plenty. Taking three five-year cycles, housing (excluding Resettlement) has been or will be provided on average as follows:
1959-1963
71,371 persons per annum
1964-1968
1969-1973
(estimated)
145,928
145,385
11
??
Apart from the squatter problem, it would seem that we are again moving into a period of sufficiency at the lower end of the scale and that generally the present shortage is likely to be only temporary.
(b) Present Situation: As was indicated in the Interim Review of Unoccupied Premises, vacancies in domestic buildings have dropped from a peak of 18,519 in 1966 to 4,142 in August of this year and are expected to drop to below 2,000 in January 1970, a position last experienced in 1961 at the beginning of the previous rental troubles. It is apparent from Annexe 'A' that existing rents in all domestic categories are on the increase. It will be seen from Annexe 'B' that some of the increases this year have been very high indeed. In the various categories the situation appears to be as follows:
(i) Small and Large Tenement Floors: Unlike the situation in 1962 there has been very little clamour in the Chinese Press and it is fairly evident that although there is a shortage of supply and rents are being increased, there still is accommodation available and the increases are modest. Rents generally are still well below the 1964 levels. Statistics in recent years indicate that about 42% of all new accommodation is purchased and occupied by the owner and his family and we can assume that a fair number of floors in these categories are not and will not be affected by rent increases. Production of new tenement floors next year is likely to be well below the demand but there still is a fair amount of 'slack' in existing tenements with vacant cubicles and bedspaces. The shortfall here will, in any event, be made up by the completion of Government and Goverment- aided housing as is evident from Annexe 'C'. In the Un Chau Street Government Low Cost Housing scheme, 5,000 domestic units designed to accommodate 34,000 people have recently been completed and are now being occupied. Completions over the next year are planned as follows:-
Units
Persons
Month of completion
Government (Kwai Hing
1,045
6,800
July
Low Cost Housing
(Lei Muk Shue
(1)
1,348
8,760
July
(2) 2,262
14,700
September
(Ko Chiu Road
969
6,300
October
Housing
(Wah Fu
2.943
21,982
March
Authority
(Ping Shek
4,596
29,208
July
H.K. Housing (Lok Han San Tsuen Society ((Hau Pui Lung Road)
2,779
17,011
December
15.942
104.761
/(ii)