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HOUSING
LAND AND HOUSING
Housing its millions is one of Hong Kong's proudest achieve- ments. Spurred on by an influx of more than a million refugees into an already crowded territory, the Government has carried through a massive public housing programme in the post-war years.
About 43 per cent of the population of Hong Kong is living in government or government-aided housing, but statistics show that the demand for public housing, particularly in the urban areas, is still very strong. Because of the general rise in rents following the rapid revival of the property market in 1969, public housing in the urban areas is many times over-subscribed and that in the outlying areas is filled as soon as completed. At the end of 1970, domestic accommodation in the urban areas, owned by the private sector, comprised 196,300 tenement floors, 59,900 small flats, 23,600 large flats and 1,000 houses.
A Housing Board was set up in 1965 to keep under review the building progress in all types of housing, assess the present and future housing needs and the balance between types of housing, and advise on administrative measures to improve co-ordination between housing agencies. The board's main recommendations in 1969 were that the same design should be used for all government housing (resettlement and low-cost housing) and that government housing should be built for about 500,000 people at a cost of about $700 million over the next six years.
Government housing
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The categories of persons eligible for resettlement were laid down in order of priority in the 1964 White Paper 'Review of Policies for Squatter Control, Resettlement and Government Low- Cost Housing' and subsequently revised on the recommendation of the Housing Board. These categories and the number of people resettled under each head during the year are:
Priority 1: Compassionate cases, including certain victims of natural disasters and persons recommended by the Director of Social Welfare 5,643.
Priority 2: Rent Advance Scheme for families displaced from
dangerous buildings 1,335.