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LAND AND HOUSING
schools or children's clubs under the guidance of the Education or Social Welfare Department.
Early operations to clear thousands of squatters from their varied accommodation on the hillsides produced an unexpected category of persons, who, though technically squatters, were living in premises of a considerably higher standard than the average. To provide them with better accommodation, the basic design of one wing of a normal H-block was adapted, giving a number of small self-contained flats with private balconies, kitchens, lava- tories and showers. The rent of this better class low-cost accom- modation was set somewhat higher and now stands at $45 a month for a flat of 240 square feet and $65 a month for one of 360 square feet. In due course, when the overall housing situation permits, the standard multi-storey accommodation can also be converted with- out undue difficulty or cost into additional apartments of this type. Flatted Factories. Mention has been made of the small factories which operate in squatter areas. As clearances advanced they re- vealed more and more of these 'squatter factories' and, to permit those being resettled to continue this form of livelihood, it was decided to construct several multi-storey factory blocks. These have industrial working space in units of 198 square feet and are allocated to owners of squatter factories under a certain size who cannot afford to re-establish themselves elsewhere. Rents are cal- culated to provide a return on capital within 21 years at 5% per annum compound interest. They vary from $75 a month for a ground floor unit to $45 a month for one on a top floor, inclusive of rates. These rents are below market levels and in most areas the accommodation has proved attractive to small manufacturers.
The older cottage areas. Fourteen cottage resettlement areas still remain in existence, but the number of occupants varies little from year to year, since it is uneconomic, at least in the urban areas, to increase their size. In certain districts the sites are being cleared for other development, and their occupants resettled in multi- storey accommodation.
Several of the remaining cottage areas still contain many small factories, shops and workshops, together with schools, clinics and welfare centres of various types; these are largely provided by voluntary agencies who continue to add generously to such facili- ties year by year. For example, during 1961 a noodle factory was