LAND AND HOUSING
123
feet per adult person was opened by the Acting Governor in Novem- ber 1970 at Lam Tin estate. Estates now being planned will be built to a larger room-grid to give effect to a Housing Board recommenda- tion that resettlement accommodation should be built to the same standards as low-cost housing. By the end of 1970, the total number of tenancies in blocks of all types administered by the Resettlement Department was 179,489. The total number of persons housed was 1,094,376, 50.81 per cent of them in the newer type of block.
Rents are fixed at the lowest possible level to cover reimburse- ment of the capital cost over 40 years (at 34 per cent interest), plus all annually recurrent expenditure including the cost of administra- tion and maintenance. The basis on which these rents are calculated is to be reviewed. An element for rates, and in the early blocks for water charges, is included in the rent. Rents vary according to the design of the block and the size of the room. The all-in rent of a standard room of 120 square feet in the oldest type of block is $18 a month (having been raised, for the first time from $14 in 1965), while the all-in rent of a standard room of 135 square feet in a new block is $34. Despite the large population and the wide variety of rents charged, the number of tenants failing to pay is still extremely small. Of the total of $76.7 million due in rents for the year, only about 0.08 per cent had to be written off as irrecoverable
arrears.
Management, for the 19 estates situated within the urban area housing 933,896 persons, is entrusted to the Urban Council, with the Commissioner for Resettlement managing the four in the New Territories on similar lines. Some resettlement estates are virtually townships (the population of Tsz Wan Shan estate, for instance, is around 130,000) and a wide range of community facilities must be provided. Some ground floor rooms are let as shops or workshops. Others are used by government departments or voluntary welfare agencies as schools, clinics or nurseries. Even the rooftops in the older blocks are put to use. Most of them have been allocated to voluntary agencies who operate primary schools or children's clubs under the guidance of the Education or Social Welfare Departments. In the newer estates separate six-storey buildings (each with 24 classrooms) are provided for primary school accommodation and in the latest blocks provision has been made for self-contained