LAND AND HOUSING
177
In 1954, after a disastrous squatter fire at Shek Kip Mei in which 53,000 people lost their homes, there was a drastic change in policy. A Resettlement Department was set up, under the general control of the Urban Council, to co-ordinate the duties of squatter control and clearance which had previously been undertaken by several different departments; Government funds were provided to build multi-storey blocks into which squatters could be resettled. The construction of these blocks, designed and built by the Public Works Department, was as simple as possible, in order that they should be put up as quickly as possible and then let at rents which the squatters could afford.
Basically each new building was in the form of an 'H' with communal washing and latrine facilities on each of the seven floors. Individual rooms varied in size from just under 100 square feet to just over 300 square feet with the majority of 120 square feet designed to house a family of four or five adults. Twenty four square feet per adult was taken as the absolute minimum for health and comfort. With only minor modifications, this design had been perpetuated in nearly 200 multi-storey blocks by the end of 1961.
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Rooms were allocated according to the size of the family rather than the rent they could afford. Rents were fixed at the lowest possible level to cover reimbursement of the capital cost of the building over 40 years (at 31% per annum compound interest) plus an element for management and land costs. The rent of a standard 120 square feet room was fixed at $14 per month. No charge was made for the communal water supply but electricity, if it was installed at the settler's request, was at his own expense; communal lighting was provided by Government.
From 1954 to the end of 1961 multi-storey resettlement accom- modation of this type had been built to house about 360,000 persons in 11 estates at a total capital cost of $183.5 million.
It soon became necessary to provide for other community needs in these estates, which were virtually small townships. The ground floor rooms of new blocks were therefore set aside for non- domestic use. Many are now let to settlers as shops or workshops. Some are set aside for private welfare organizations and are used as schools, clinics or nurseries. Even the rooftops of the blocks are not left idle, but are allocated to voluntary agencies who operate