LAND AND HOUSING
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waiting list, the authority has adopted a schedule of rent adjustments which entails a rent increase of about 10 per cent at intervals of not less than two years for old estates and within four years for new estates.
The Housing Authority maintains a combined waiting list from which to find tenants to fill vacancies in both Housing Authority and government low-cost housing estates, present or future. At the end of the year, 31,583 applications had been passed for allocation, 71,841 rejected or withdrawn and 94,758 were still waiting for investi- gation. To be eligible for registration on that list, the applicant must have a family of at least four people with a family income, as assessed in accordance with the rules of the authority, of $400 to $1,250 per month for Housing Authority flats and not exceeding $500 per month for government low-cost housing flats. Government low-cost housing estates at Kwai Chung also cater for families of at least three people including a married couple, or four people of any approved combination, with a family income not exceeding $600 per month. 'Family income' is defined for this purpose as the total of the main or permanent emoluments accruing to the principal wage earner, together with 50 per cent or such higher proportion as the authority might from time to time decide, of his casual earnings and of earnings of other members of the family.
The Housing Authority also manages for a fee government officers' housing schemes, financed by the Government, planned by the archi- tectural staff of the authority, and built for sale to local government officers. The first of these estates, Lung Cheung Court, consisting of 296 flats, is under management. Another estate at Kwun Tong is under construction. The staff of the Housing Authority are all government servants working under the direction of the Commis- sioner for Housing. The authority reimburses all staff salaries to the Government plus a percentage surcharge to meet such costs as pensions and medical treatment.
The Government also provides its staff with housing accommoda- tion. Apart from staff quarters provided in accordance with the terms of service, 15 per cent of the accommodation in government low-cost housing estates is offered to junior staff on the same tenancy terms as for the public. Government loans were also made available to co-operative building societies formed to promote home-owner- ship. At the end of 1971 there were 231 societies with 4,859 members. The largest voluntary housing agency is the Hong Kong Housing Society formed in 1948. The society was the pioneer of public housing in Hong Kong. The first flats were built at Sheung Li Uk in 1952.