LAND AND HOUSING
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about 500 people, and during 1958 had under construction a further 188 flats to house about 1,000 people; Hongkong Tramways Ltd., which has built at North Point a total of 265 flats housing 1,825 people; the China Motor Bus Co., Ltd., which has 232 units housing about 1,077 people; the Hongkong Electric Co., Ltd., which built 80 flats for its local staff, housing 411 people, and 220 units for its workmen housing 950 people; and the 'Star' Ferry Co., Ltd., which has built 50 flats in Kowloon for its local staff housing about 440 people.
In its own field as an employer, Government has fostered the formation of co-operative building societies by offering loans to groups of local civil servants on the pensionable establishment to enable them to purchase land and construct blocks of flats. By the end of 1958, 112 building co-operatives, with a total of 2,467 members, had been formed and projects involving the loan of over $68,000,000 had been completed or approved. 681 flats have so far been built and occupied under these co-operative schemes, 211 of them during 1958. Further flats are under construction and further schemes under consideration.
The Housing Authority, which was set up four years ago under the provisions of the Housing Ordinance, No. 18 of 1954, and charged with the duty of providing accommodation for people living in overcrowded and unsatisfactory conditions, continued to make steady if unspectacular progress during 1958. The Authority consists of all members of the Urban Council, ex-officio, with not more than three other members to be appointed by the Governor (two such appointments have so far been made), and the Commissioner for Housing ex-officio. The Authority functions as a commercial enterprise and, although rents are kept as low as possible, they must be sufficient to cover expenditure. Crown land is allocated at one-third of the estimated market price. Government loans are granted at a low rate of interest; for the Authority's first two schemes the rate was 34%, but in 1955 it was raised to 5% per annum for future schemes. The Government maintains a general control over the Authority's activities, and all its projects must receive the prior approval of the Government.
The routine administration and execution of the decisions of the Authority are carried out by the Housing Division of the Urban Services Department, under the direction of the Commissioner