VISIT OF MR PETER BLAKER MP TO HONG KONG :
BRIEF NO. HK5
23-25 SEPTEMBER 1979
HOUSING
Hong Kong Government Housing Policy
1. The Hong Kong Government aims to ensure that every family has
a permanent, self-contained home at a rent it can afford. It is
calculated that to achieve this, subsidised public housing must be
provided for 65% of the population. Since 1954, when the Govern-
ment housing programme began, public housing has been built for
some 2.2 million people, about 45% of the population.
New homes
in the government sector are currently being built at the rate of
35,000 units per year, sufficient for 200,000 people. At the same
time, there is a steady improvement in standards, with more space,
better facilities and improved amenities.
2.
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A year ago, the Governor hoped that the target of providing
public housing for 65% of the population could be met by 1985.
But with immigrants from China continuing to arrive at a rate of
over 100,000 a year, this no longer seems realistic. The problem
has been exacerbated by recent difficulties with the Hong Kong
economy, which have led to a slow-down in all Government programmes.
The housing programme has, however, been less affected than most:
expenditure on housing and the new towns will still increase by
36% in the current financial year (compared with only 13% for the
rest of the public works programme).
3. Despite this vast Government housing programme (and the fact
that in the private sector also new homes are being constructed at
over 30,000 units per annum), the waiting period for public housing
is still over seven years. There are estimated to be some 400,000
squatters living in temporary structures on land, in addition to
/some