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HOUSING AND LAND
building, finance, management and operations committees. The executive arm of the Housing Authority is the Housing Department.
During the year the construction of the Housing Authority's new headquarters building was completed. The 16-storey building is next to the Oi Man estate on Princess Margaret Road, Kowloon. Previously the Housing Authority occupied offices at three locations, which compounded administration problems.
New Policies
A number of new policies were implemented in 1976. These included the mutual exchange scheme, the revision of procedures for waiting list applications and the space and income criteria, the addition of married sons and daughters to tenancies, and an amendment to the rent deposit policy.
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Tenants of public housing estates are now able to exchange their tenancies by mutual consent provided that flat sizes, rent and other criteria are suitable. This was made possible through the formation of the Tenants Mutual Exchange Bureau, which came into operation on August 3 at the new Housing Authority headquarters. The bureau maintains a register of tenants who have returned a form indicating the type and location of flat they would like to move to. This information is made avail- able to other tenants wishing to move in the opposite direction. A registration fee of $10 is charged, and the application is recorded for two years, after which it can be renewed on payment of a further fee. Vacant flats are not involved, so the scheme does not affect the prospects of applicants on the waiting list or in other categories.
Waiting list applicants for public housing are no longer required to renew their applications annually, but they must inform the Housing Department by letter of any change of address.
Space and income criteria have also been revised. Previously applicants whose existing accommodation gave them more than 35 square feet of space per person were not eligible for allocation through the waiting list, regardless of other living con- ditions. Now, however, the space limit of 35 square feet per person is applicable only to applicants living in accommodation of durable materials such as brick, stone and concrete, with facilities such as a kitchen, piped water, and sanitation either for exclusive use or shared with not more than two other families. For applicants living in similar accommodation but without the use of either a kitchen, piped water or sanitation, or having to share these facilities with more than two other families, the space limit is 40 square feet per person. There is no space limit for people living in structures made of wood, cardboard and tin sheets.
The income limits for waiting list applicants have also been re-adjusted. The maximum income scale is now $1,500 for a family of three, with $100 for every extra person up to $2,200 for a family of 10 or more. These limits are revised from time to time to meet changes in the index of wages for industrial workers.
A new move introduced in November 1975 enables tenants in former resettle- ment or low cost housing estates to nominate one married son or daughter and his or her family to be added to the authorised household. Other sons or daughters of