LAND AND HOUSING
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During 1960 the Society completed a Garden Estate at Kwun Tong, which includes 1,081 dwellings, 8 shops and a clinic, and houses nearly 7,000 people in self-contained flats of different sizes, as well as having some dormitory accommodation for single factory workers. A second estate completed during the year at Wong Tai Sin comprises an experimental block of tenement rooms with communal cooking and sanitary facilities, which let at rents of from $32 to $68 a month, including rates. This was built in an effort to reach people whose income is less than $350 a month, and it has been very popular. The great demand for accommoda- tion at cheap rents was amply demonstrated by the large number of applications for this estate; one more block of tenement rooms is planned for this estate and another for a new estate at Aberdeen.
The Society's estate at Tanner Hill, North Point, is nearly com- plete and its 590 flats will soon be let. Three local firms have taken up 74 of these flats under the Society's Loan Scheme where- by money to cover the capital cost of construction is lent to the Society, free of interest but repayable in 20 years, in return for the privilege of nominating employees as tenants. Rents range from $65 to $110.
The Shau Kei Wan Estate, which will eventually contain 2,900 flats, is being developed in two stages. 1,000 of the flats will house junior Government employees and their families, under the loan scheme just mentioned, and should be completed by the end of 1961. Site formation work is already in hand for an estate at Aberdeen tentatively planned for about 1,000 flats, of which 500 will be built at first. The Society is considering a small scheme for families of fishermen at Aberdeen which will include storage space for nets and other fishing gear.
Other voluntary societies made less progress during the year. The Hong Kong Settlers Housing Corporation had to demolish 312 of its 772 cottages, which accommodated over 3,600 people, in order to make way for other development schemes.
Employers' Housing. Many employers provide accommodation for their staff. The biggest scheme of this nature during the year was that of the Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Co Ltd. The Company recently completed 770 flats in 7 blocks at Sai Wan Ho and Quarry Bay for workers and their families. The Hong Kong Electric Co now has over 300 flats, housing nearly 1,500 people;