LAND AND HOUSING
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of the year. The largest estate, now more than half completed, at Wah Fu near Pok Fu Lam on Hong Kong Island, covers more than 24 acres. It will accommodate 53,740 people in 7,788 flats at a capital cost of $86.2 million. The estate has four schools, kin- dergartens, 40 shops and a market, clinics, a post office, a public library, party rooms and other amenities. The whole estate is due to be completed in 1970. A new estate now under construction at Ping Shek, in Kowloon, will be completed in 1970. It will have five 28-storey blocks, and two low blocks to house 29,208 people in 4,596 flats.
When all the estates now being planned are completed the authority will house 218,425 people in 34,918 flats at a capital cost of $331 million; $260 million from government loans and $71 million through self-financing. By the end of 1968 the authority had spent $286 million and its rent roll had reached $29 million. Sites for estates are provided by the Government at one-third the estimated market value. Rents are calculated on the basis of estimated working expenses and capital expenditure on buildings and land is amortized over 40 years at five per cent per annum compound interest. Rents range from $48 a month for a four-person flat to $139 for a 14- person flat. Tenants are selected on the basis of housing need.
In 1962 the authority undertook to manage all properties built by the Public Works Department under the government low-cost housing programme for people with family incomes of less than $500 a month and who are living in insanitary or overcrowded conditions. These estates consist of multi-storey blocks of flats, each flat containing a living-room, private balcony, cooking place and a water point. Rents range from $35 a month for a four-person room to $80 for a 10-person room. At the end of the year nine low-cost housing estates-seven completed and two partly com- pleted-provided accommodation for 126,500 people in 23,272 flats. Three new estates are under construction and plans for another two were announced during the year. One of these, Kwai Shing, will be the largest so far built, accommodating 81,000 people. This pro- gramme, which is dependent on the availability of finance and of suitable sites, is subject to annual review by the Housing Board.
Maintenance and management of authority and government low-cost housing estates is of a high standard. The staff of the