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LAND AND HOUSING
toilets on the lower floors. A start was made on landscaping and planting in the open areas and small rest gardens have been opened in some estates. To unify the letting process, new tenants of older public housing estates are now required to sign a tenancy agreement.
One of the most ambitious projects now underway is a rehousing operation which will bring a radical improvement to the living conditions of 600,000 tenants on Hong Kong's oldest housing estates. Under the programme, which will take about 15 years to complete, all estates with mark I and II blocks will be redeveloped with a view to providing self-contained living units. They will also have improved amenities.
In the initial phase of the scheme at Lower Shek Kip Mei Estate, more than 16,000 domestic tenants and about 100 shop and workshop tenants re-established new homes at nearby Upper Pak Tin Estate in 1973. Conversion of eight vacated blocks has already begun.
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Government Factory Estates
To enable operators of squatter factories, workshops and industrial undertakings to continue earning a living when their huts are demolished in clearance operations, the government has in the past 16 years built 24 flatted factory blocks to accommodate them. These five or seven-storey high blocks provide a total of 8,600 standard-sized units of 256 square feet each. More than 100 different types of manufacture are under- taken in these factory blocks, which contribute significantly to the economy of Hong Kong.
Squatter Control and Clearance
All squatting on Crown land is by definition unlawful, but illegal structures are 'tolerated' if they were covered by the general survey on squatters carried out in 1964. When the land on which they stand is needed for development they are cleared and occupants rehoused in estates. Other illegal structures are cleared in the same way as the 'tolerated' ones and people who are genuinely homeless may apply for a site in a licensed area where they can, build a hut on the site on payment of a small licence fee.
Industrial undertakings operated in tolerated structures but requiring large open storage space are unsuitable for government flatted factories. These may be offered sites in a licensed area provided the trade falls within certain approved categories.
The squatter population continues to drop gradually and at the end of 1973 it was estimated to be 275,000 compared with 463,000 in 1965. The New Territories Administration is responsible for the control of squatters in the New Territories, with the exception of Tsuen Wan where control lies with the Housing Department. The more accessible parts of the New Territories are regularly patrolled and are divided into prohibited and non-prohibited areas. In prohibited areas, such as the margins of roads, development areas, and land exposed to flooding, no new domestic huts are allowed. In non-prohibited areas temporary structures may be built with the approval of the District Office.